P\0%l\r^ THE
(MOSLEMj WORLD
^ A quarterly review of current events, literature, and
thought among Mohammedans and the progress
of Christian Missions in Moslem lands
VOLUME XII
EDITOR
SAMUEL M. ZWEMER, D.D., F.R.G.S.
Cairo, Egypt
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
REV. H. TJ. W. STANTON, D.D. REV. W. ST. CLAIR TISDALL, D.D.
PROF. D. B. MACDONALD, D.D. MR. MARSHALL BROOMHALL
CANON W. H. T. GAIRDNER, B.A. REV. E. M. WHERRY, D.D.
REV. W. G. SHELLABEAR, D.D. ARTHUR JEFFERY, M.A.
REV. RALPH HARLOW
AMERICA^ COMMITTEE
DELAVAN L. PIERSON, Chairman ^^ MRS. 'ATM. BORDEN
DR. CHARLES R. WATSON, Vice-Chalrman ALFRED V. S. OLCOTT, Treasurer
REV. JAMES L. BARTON, D.D. MISS J. H. RIGHTER, Secretary
MRS. WM. BANCROFT HILL
MISS JULIA C. CHESTER, Office Secretary
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THE EVANGELICAL PRESS, THIRD AND REILY STS., HARRISBURG, PA.,
and 156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
1922
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Copyright i()22, by Missionary Revinv Publishing Company.
434
GENERAL
Afghan Thinking, Modern Persian and. .Dwight M. Donaldson 334
Ahmed ? Did Jesus Foretell Percy Smith 71
Algeria, Superstitions in I. Lilias Trotter 342
Arab Mind and the Gospel, The Paul W. Harrison 225
Arabic Literature, A Chronological Chart of . . .R. W. Caldwell 372
Arabic Writing, Christians and E. E. Elder 178
Bible Among Moslems, The John H. Ritson 122
Cairo, The Study of Islamics at W. H. T. Gairdner 390
China, An Ancient Account of India and. .C. Stanley G. Mylrea 170
Christ and Controversy H. U. Weitbrecht Stanton 115
Dervish Orders of Constantinople Samuel Anderson 53
Eclecticism in Islam Arthur Jeffery 230
Education in Syria, Moslem J. Robertson Buchanan 395
Hadith Qudsi, The So-called Samuel M. Zwemer 263
Ibadhites, The • Percy Smith 276
India and China, An Ancient Account of. .C. Stanley G. Mylrea 170
India, Mysticism and Saint Worship in Murray T. Titus 129
Islam, Eclecticism in Arthur JefiFery 230
Islam in Madagascar Henry Rusillon 386
Islam, Our Method of Judging Alfred E. Garvie 25
Islamics at Cairo, The Study of W. H. T. Gairdner 390
Jelal ud-Din Rumi King Birge 161
Judgment in the Koran, The Resurrection and. .Dalton Galloway 348
Madagascar, Islam in Henry Rusillon 386
Moslem Education in Syria J. Robertson Buchanan 395
Moslem Students, A New Approach to the S. A. Morrison 373
Moslems, What to Preach to L. E. Esselstyn 66
Medical Missions in Yemen John C. Young 62
Moslems, The Bible Among John H. Ritson 122
Moslems Expect ? What Louis Massignon 7
Moslem Saint with a Christian Heart, A King Birge 161
Mysticism and Saint Worship in India Murray T. Titus 129
Neglected Mission Field — Turkistan. A. . . .Jenny de Mayer 35, 142
Off the Beaten Track M. Cay 289
Persian and Afghan Thinking, Modern .. Dwight M. Donaldson 334
Prayer-Cycle, A Monthly Annie Van Sommer 190
Resurrection and Judgment in the Koran, The. .Dalton Galloway 348
Saint Worship in India, Mysticism and Murray T. Titus 139
Stamboul Day School, Seen from a Ethel Putney 185
Superstitions in Algeria I. Lilias Trotter 342
Syria, Moslem Education in J. Robertson Buchanan 395
Turk, Community Life and Ceremonies of the Peasanrt
S. Ralph Harlow 248
Turkistan — A Neglected Mission Field Jenny de Mayer 35, 142
Yemen, Medical Missions in John C. Young 62
435
436 THE MOSLEM WORLD
*
SURVEY OF PERIODICALS
Survey of Periodicals Mollis W. Hering 107, 217, 327
Survey of Periodicals Lorraine D. Dennis 429
EDITORIAL
Disarmament Needed, The C. F. Gates i
Not For but with Oriental Christians S. Ralph Harlow 221
Where the Stones Cry Out S. M. Zwemer 331
Vanquished yet Victorious S. M. Zwemer 1 1 1
CURRENT TOPICS
Afghan Amir, Letters to Lenin from the 88
Afghan Press, The 89
Africa, How Islam Spreads in 79
Africa, Literature in East 9^
Africa, The White Fathers in North 414
Arabia, An Air Survey of I94
Armenia, The Cry of 411
Armenia, The Position in 301
Armenian Legacies I93
Asia, Islam in Central 84
Beirut University I,. . . 201
Beirut University, Inter-Racial Night at 412
Bible in Persia, The 297
Bible, The Influence of the Open 296
Bolshevists at Bokhara, The 4^3
Bolshevist-Kemalist Alliance, The Effect of the 408
Britain and the Khalifat, An Indian Moslem on 307
"Cairo," "Mecca" or I97
Cairo Study Centre, Study Course in Islam at the 80
Canton, The Moslems of 200
Christian and Jew, Old Intolerance Toward 295
Christ's Challenge to the Moslem Truthseeker 308
Colporteur, The Work of a 193
Constantinople, The New Woman in 91
Converts* Conference at Zeitoun, Third Moslem 78
Dante's Debt to Mohammedan Eschatology 194
Detroit, "The Moslem Sunrise" at 298
Economic Position in Morocco, The 94
Egypt, Opium in 302
Egypt, Superstition Regarding Child-birth in 303
Egypt, The Feminist Movement in 86
Eg>'pt, The New Woman in 90
England, Islam in 82
Feminist Movement in Egypt, The 86
French Colonies, The Policy of Assimilation in 295
Hcjaz, The Independence of the 85
Hindus and the Khalifat 202
Hodcida Before and After the War , 300
INDEX TO VOLUME XII 437
Independence of the Hejaz, The 85
India Asked to Help Morocco 305
Indian Leader, Shaukat Ali as 201
Indian Moslem on Britain and the Khalifat, An 307
Institut Musulman de Paris, The 3^3
Islam and Civilization 304
Islam at the Cairo Study Centre, Study Course in 80
Islam, Idealising 299
Islam and the Penalty of Apostasy, Modern 409
Islam Spreads in Africa, How ., 79
Islam in South America 86
Islam in England 82
Islam in Central Asia 84
Java and Madura 198
Javanese Princess, Letters of a 92
Jesus, The Universal Mission of 196
Jew, Old Intolerance Toward Christian and 295
Khalifat, An Indian Moslem on Britain and the 307
Khalifat, Hindus and the 202
Khilafat, A Hindu Writer on the 306
Lamb That Was Slain, Worthy Is the 408
Literature in East Africa 91
Madura, Java and 198
Martyred Translator, A 304
de Mayer in Turkestan, Miss 414
"Mecca" or "Cairo" .197
Mohammedan Eschatology, Dante's Debt to 194
Moon and Its Cleavage, The 299
Morocco, India Asked to Help 305
Morocco, The Economic Position in. . 94
Moros, The Passing of Islam Among the 83
"Moslem Sunrise" at Detroit, "The 298
Moslem Appeal for Funds, A 197
Moslems of Canton, The 200
Moslems Thinks, What a 196
Near East Relief Committee has Accomplished, What the 93
Opium in Egypt 302
Paris, The Institut Musulman de 303
Persia, The Bible in 297
Persian Church Sends Out a Missionary, The 410
Policy of Assimilation in French Colonies, The 295
Port Said a Cosmopolitan City 193
Press, The Afghan 89
Redhead Sect, The 81
Sacrifice, A Sermon on 198
Shaukat Ali as Indian Leader 201
Smyrna, A Social Survey of 85
South America, Islam in 86
Study Course in Islam at the Cairo Study Centre 80
Superstition Regarding Child-Birth in Egypt 302
Third Moslem Converts' Conference at Zeitoun 78
Universal Mission of Jesus, The 196
438 THE MOSLEM WORLD
What the Near East Relief Committee has Accomplished 93
Woman in Constantinople, The New 9^
Woman in Eg}pt, The New 90
Work of a Colporteur, The i93
BOOKS
Afghanstans Graense, Ved, Eduard Geismar 2i i
Africa, Three Travellers in North Emily Ward 324
I'Arabi Ante-Islamique Ign. Gindi 421
Arabic, An Aid to Practical Written Rev. J. Van Ess 21 1
Arabian Medicine Edward G, Browne 316
Arabic Thought and Its Place in History dcLacy O'Leary 322
Assyrian Church Customs and the Murder of Mar Shimum
Surma d'Bait Mar Shimun 322
Bag Libanons Bjerge Alfred Nielsen 2H
Bahai, The Spirit of the Age Horace Holley 208
Barbary, The Romance of the Nearest East. .A. MacCallum Scott 314
British Labour and the Orient, The Halid Halid 213
Buddhism, An Introduction to Mahayana. . Dr. W. M. McGovern 208
Burial of the Dead, The W. H. F. Basevi 212
T. Canaan, Aberglaube und Volksmedizin im Lande der Bibel . . . 422
China, Travels of a Consular Officer in Northwest
Eric Teichman 419
Christianity the Final Religion? Is Rev. A. C. Bouquet 212
Christian's Appreciation of Other Faiths, A.. Rev. Gilbert Reid 319
Churches in Making S. P. G. 320
Crescent in Northwest China, The. . . ! G. Findlay Andrew 203
Crusade, The First August C. Krey 325
Die Christologie des Islams Samuel M. Zwemer 102
I'Egjpt de Mehemet-Ali Jusqu'en 1920. Documents Dlploma-
tiques Concernant 326
Europe in Asia Minor Felix Valyi 325
Evangelische Missionskunde Julius Richter 215
Facts and Folks in Our Fields Abroad Anna A. Milligan 206
Foucauld, Charles de Rene Bazin 320
Four Gospels, The Maurice Jones loi
Greek Atrocities in Turkey 213
Hinsides det Kaspiske Hav Fra en Orientrejse ved Krigens Ud-
brud Arthur Christensen 210
Holland, Tropical H. A. van Coenen Torchiana 421
Imad-id-Din, Dr ,. . . 210
Indicn, Die Stellung Der Frau in Zain el-Abdin 324
Inward Way, The Rev. J. Takle 104
Islam J. Ostrup 211
Islam en Christendon J. C. Van Andel-Rutgers 213
Islam, The Encyclopedia of 420
Islam, The Faith of Rev. Edward Sell 319
rislam, Lcs Pcnscurs de Baron Carra de Vaux 215
rislam ct ia Politique dcs Allies Dr. Enrico Insabato 103
Javaansche Primbon uit de Zestiende Eeuw, Een
Hendrick Kraemer 315
INDEX TO VOLUME XII 439
Jews in Egypt and in Palestine Under the Fatimid Caliphs, The
Jacob Mann 425
Kabylie, Sous les Figuiers de Charles Geniaux 2 1 4
Koranens Aag Agnes Clauser 211
Koranen og Biblen Alfred Nielsen 210
La Linguistique ou Science du Langage J. Marouzeau 214
La Question d'Orient depuis ses origines jusqu'a la Paix de Sevres
Ed. Driault 102
Lebanon in Turmoil: Syria and the Powers in i860, The
J. F. Scheltema 314
Le Dogme et la Loi de I'lslam I. Goldziher 105
Les Institutions Musulmanes Gaudefroy-Demombynes 106
Le Livre De I'lmpot Foncier 205
Le Pilote des Mers de I'lnde, de la Chine, et de 1' Indonesie
Sihab ad-din Ahmad Bin Majid 106
Le Regime d'Occupation Hellenique en turquie 213
Les Vautours et la Turquie Doctor Nevzad 213
Le Traite de Paix Avec la Turquie, I'Attitude des Musulmans et
de rinde 213
Luke's Writings, Recent Discoveries in. . . .Lt. Col. G. Mackinlay 212
Manuale di Bibliografia Musulmana. . . .Prof. Giuseppe Gabrieli 214
Maroc, Elements de Puericulture a I'usage des Jeunes Filles des
ecoles du C. H. Bouneret & P. V. Radot 427
Maroc, Villes et Tribus du. V.- L. Trumper 428
Maroc, Les Grandes Etapes de I'Histoire du
George Hardy & Paul Aures 427
M. Lloyd George et la Delegation Indienne Pour le Calif at. ... 213
Men and Methods That Win in the Foreign Fields
J. R. Saunders 207
Mission Der Ersten Christen, Die Friedrich Wurz 426
Missionary Science, An Introduction to
G. A. Gollock & E. Hewat 324
Missionary, The Primacy of the Archibald McLean 211
Missions et Christianisme Social 321
Mohammeds in Lehre Und Glauben Seiner Gemeinde, Die
person Tor Andrae 3 1 2
Morocco That Was W. B. Harris 209
Muhammedanismen som Verdensreligion Fr. Buhl 211
New World of Islahi, The Lothrop Stoddard 104
Originality of the Christian Message, The. . . .H. R. Mackintosh 102
Palestine, Historical Sites in Victor L. Trumper 428
Palestine, The People of Elihu Grant 422
Persia, A History of • Sir Percy Sykes 310
Persia, Glimpses of M. M. Wood 210
Persien, Fra Frede Bronsted 211
Persiens Muhammedane, Bland .L. E. Hogberg 210
Petits traites apologetiques de Yahia Ben Adi avec traduction
frangaise Aug. Perier I02
Persique, Le Golfe R. Vadala 205
"Pilgrim Papers" Robert Keable 325
Primitive Speech W. A. Crabtree 426
Religions of the East, An Introduction to the Study of Some
Sidney Cave 427
440 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia 203
Saracens, A Short History of the Amee AH Syed 317
Shuwa Arabic Stories C. G. Howard 414
Sinai, A History of Lina Eckenstein 318
Singapore, One Hundred Years of 216
Siwi Language, The W. Seymour Walker 215
Skildringer af Syriske Medarbejdere Alfred Nielsen 210
Skildringer Fra Syrien 210
Studies in Islamic Mysticism Reynold Alleyne Nicholson 97
Sophia, The Redemption of Saint Rev. J. A. Douglas 320
Sudan in Evolution, The Percy F. Martin 425
Syrie, La P. H. Lammens 213
Til Hans Aere M. K. S. Hoist 211
Travels in Arabia Deserta Charles M. Doughty 96
Tunis derriere les Murs, A R. Bouquero De VoHgny 427
Turks in Europe Gaston Gaillard 325
Turkey Talcott Williams 206
Turcophobia of the English Imperialists, The 213
Turcs Et I'Europe, Les M. Gaston Gaillard 207
Uganda, Dayspring in Archdeacon Lloyd 423
Uganda Pie Bishop of Kampala 423
West and East Edward Caldwell Moore 95
Why Men Believe Clement F. Rogers lOi
Yahia Ben Adi, un Philosophe arabe Chretien du x Siecle
Aug. Perier 102
Yallah, ou I'arabe sans mystere L. Brundt 427
Zionism and Judaism, Ten Essays on Achad Ha'am 424
Zionism and World Politics Horace Meyer Kallen, Ph.D. 323
CONTRIBUTORS
Anderson, Samuel 53 Hering, Hollis W.. . 107, 217, 327
Birge, King 116 Jeffery, Arthur 230
Buchanan, J. Robertson 395 Massignon, Louis 7
Caldwell, R. W 372 Morrison, S. A 373
Cay, M 289 Mylrea, C. Stanley G 170
de Mayer, Jenny 35, 142 Putney, Ethel 185
Dennis, Lorraine D 429 Ritson, John H 122
Donaldson, Dwight M 334 Rusillon, Henry 386
Elder. E. E 178 Smith, Percy 71,276
Essclstyn, L. E 66 Titus, Murray T 129
Gairdner, W. H. T 390 Trotter, I. Lilias 342
Galloway, Dal ton 348 Van Sommer, Annie 190
Garvic, Alfred E 25 Weitbrecht Stanton, H. U.. 115
Gates, C. F I Young, John C 62
Harlow, S. Ralph 221, 248 Zwemer, S. M 11 1-263
Harrison, Paul W 225
PLATES
Chronological Chart of Arabic Literature, A October
Whirling Dervishes of Constantinople January
Turkistan, Central Asia (frontispiece) January
TheMoslemWorld
VOL. XII JANUARY, 1922 No. i
EDITORIAL
THE DISARMAMENT NEEDED
The World War brought to the surface and intensified
all the animosities and hatreds which had lain dormant
in the different nations in past years. The close of the
War did not end the spirit of war. The appeal of ideal-
ism to the world to settle the issues of the war in such a
way as would promote the interests of all the nations and
so promote the interests of the world failed. The Great
Powers made it their chief aim to promote their own
interests, and the Lesser Powers, finding that there was
no international body which would disinterestedly labor
for the interests of these smaller nations, sought each to
gain its ends by intrigue or by armed force. Hence there
has been a succession of little wars following the Great
War. The reestablishment of trade and manufactures
and transportation has been hindered; the peoples have
been eating up their resources without renewing them.
The world is poorer today, and suffering is greater today
than it was three years ago.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Near East.
It is very generally conceded that if the Great Powers
had resolutely grappled with the question of the Near
East immediately after the Armistice they might have
2 THE MOSLEM WORLD
reached a settlement which would have secured peace and
enabled the peoples of the Near East to recover from their
exhaustion and to devote their energies to the develop-
ment of their industries. It was plain at that time that
the Great Powers could reach a settlement in one of two
ways. Either they must impose their terms on the de-
feated nation and use force to have those terms executed,
or they must come to an agreement with the defeated
nation upon terms w^hich both parties would accept.
The Great Powers adopted neither of these two ways.
They allowed matters to drift along, following the line
of least resistance. Old animosities were greatly inten-
sified. Greece and Turkey went to war. This war has
cost thousands of lives. Both nations have been brought
to the verge of bankruptcy, their currencies are depreci-
ated. Hundreds of villages have been destroyed, fertile
regions have been laid waste. Widows and orphans have
been multiplied, and no settlement has been reached.
What strikes the observer most forcibly is the uselessness
of all this destruction of life and property. To what
purpose is all this waste? At the end of this war the
same question remains as at the beginning of it, viz:
How can these two nations reconcile their conflicting
interests? The war has made plain only one thing,
namely, that they cannot reconcile their conflicting
interests by war. 'They that take the sword shall perish
by the sword," said Jesus Christ, and the truth of His
words appears in the history of this decade.
These thoughts are truisms which all would accept if
they could view them as impartial observers, but they
do not observe them from that standpoint. Blindness
and deafness have fallen upon the peoples. It is a partial
blindness and deafness which cuts off all sight and all
hearing which does not agree with our own preconceived
views. Selfishness and Hate have sealed our eyes and
stopped our ears. We go onward in the old, old way
which the world has followed so long. Self-interest we
hold to be the supreme motive for the nation, and armed
EDITORIAL 3
force the only method of settling national differences.
Does it pay? Are the results of the series of wars in which
the world has been engaging such as to commend the old
law and the old method of the world for use in this age
of the world when modern inventions have increased the
destructiveness of war?
There are many who would answer promptly that the
old law and the old method are discredited and ought to
be rejected. But they ask, How is this to be accom-
plished? There are certain basic principles which the
world ought to recognize. They are impressed upon us
by the sad experiences through which we are passing.
1. The interests of every nation are the interest of all
the nations. We are learning how closely the nations are
bound together. In the realm of economics we are forced
to recognize that the business of our country cannot
prosper unless the business of the neighboring countries
prospers. Commerce is giving and taking, buying and
selling, and in the long run the bargain must be good for
both parties if it is to lead to good business.
2. The peace of our country is dependent on the peace
of other countries. If they go to war we are always in
danger of being drawn into the maelstrom. It is there-
fore in the interest of every nation that all the causes of
dissension between different countries should be removed
quickly and not allowed to rankle and fester and become
an open sore of the world. This danger increases as the
means of communication between different parts of the
world increase and become more rapid.
3. The great need of the world is a change of the spirit
in men. It is quite remarkable to see how leading men
in different professions are giving voice to the same feeling
that the great need of the world is a change of spirit.
Ministers, lawyers, statesmen, students of economics and
of industries — all alike are saying that the spirit of ani-
mosity does not pay, whether it be the animosity between
classes or the animosity between nations. Mr. Frank A.
Vanderlip, Sir Philip Gibbs, and Sir George Paish have
4 THE MOSLEM WORLD
all said in almost the same words: that "the only basis
for the economic reconstruction of Europe today is a
spiritual basis; the only solution to the economic problem
is a spiritual solution. The candid judgment of hard-
headed business men is that it is the hearts of men that
need changing."
In the Near East we need a change of spirit. The
Turks need it. They need to give up the spirit of intoler-
ance which visits punishment upon any man who aban-
dons the Mohammedan religion. They need to place
religious truth in the open for investigation, and to make
every man free in regard to his religious faith. So long
as Mohammedans occupy the position that any man who
forsakes the Mohammedan faith should be put to death
they make it impossible for the rest of the world to treat
with them on equal terms. The rest of the world has
abandoned that rule and now stands for freedom in re-
ligious matters. A faith that rests on coercion is dis-
credited. Islam had already put down the movements
which made for freedom of thought in religion and
philosophy when the Ottoman Turks invaded the Near
East, and it had become a religious absolutism, an un-
bending orthodoxy. The Ottoman Turks adopted this
system, and they were at an additional disadvantage be-
cause the religion of Islam was given to them in Arabic,
which is to them a foreign tongue, only understood by
their scholars. All initiative of thought and criticism
among them has been repressed. Where religious inquiry
is repressed the spirit of initiative and of inquiry that
makes for progress is generally lacking. This is perhaps
one of the reasons why Mohammedan countries are not
progressive. Mohammedans owe it to themselves to wel-
come inquiry into all matters of doctrine and creed. They
need to stimulate the freedom of thought and investiga-
tion which puts a people in the path of progress. They
need to get rid of the spirit which has stained their history
during my own lifetime with repeated massacres of
innocent men, women and children. These massacres
EDITORIAL 5
were committed under the promptings of a wrong spirit.
The Turkish nation needs a new spirit if it is to prosper.
New forms, new methods are not enough so long as the
old spirit is unchanged. Religious intolerance and
national fanaticism have always borne the same kind of
fruit in all nations and they will continue to bear the
same kind of fruit. A change of spirit is needed if there
is to be concord between Christian and Mohammedan
nations.
The Christian nations stand in equal need of a change
of spirit with regard to their dealings in the Near East.
They have acted from self-interest and regarded the Near
East as territory to be exploited. They have vied with
one another in seeking to gain each one some advantage
for itself. They have not commended Christianity to
non-Christian peoples because they have violated its first
principle of unselfishness in their international dealings
here. Nor have they stood for morality and righteous-
ness. The influence and example of the Allied armies
since the Armistice have contributed to the increase of
drinking and prostitution in Constantinople. There is
great need of a change of spirit in the Christian peoples.
This change of spirit may be partly effected through
the schools. The schools of the Near East have been
nationalistic and even chauvinistic. They need to teach
a sound internationalism and social justice. The prin-
ciples of economics and of national righteousness should
be inculcated in students' minds at an early age in order
to render them proof against the false ideas which are
being propagated with the utmost vigor since the war.
Every community must realize that its welfare is bound
up with the welfare of the other communities in this
complex social body and must see to it that the children
realize this also. At the present time the children are
taught in these national schools to sing songs which em-
body the spirit of hatred towards certain other nations.
This is true both of Turkish schools and of Christian
schools. Education is now a divisive influence and not
6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
a unifying influence. We need to recognize that such an
educational regime tends to perpetuate the old spirit of
war and hate with all its disastrous results. We sow the
wind and we reap the whirlwind. Again I ask, Does it
pay? Ought we not to see to it that our educational sys-
tems should breathe a new spirit of international concord
and cooperation?
But the schools alone cannot change the spirit of the
nations. We need a change of heart, a radical change of
attitude towards our fellowmen, with whom we are forced
to live because they are our neighbors. What can produce
this change? It must be a spiritual, religious force. There
is no other power that can subordinate self-interest to the
interests of others, that can make principle stronger than
passion. If we would be right with our fellowmen we
must be right with God, we must put God in control of
our lives.
It is for every one to search carefully his own religious
conceptions to ascertain what power there is in his re-
ligious faith to change his spirit, so that he may deal
rightly with his fellows as individuals or as nations. I
know of no power that can effect such a transformation
except the personal influence of Jesus Christ. He told
His disciples,
"The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give
His life a ransom for many."
"As the Father hath sent Me even so send I you."
That is in the same spirit of service to others. Many
individuals have caught that spirit and are exemplifying
it in their lives, but nations have not yet caught it. When
that spirit takes possession of any man, whatever his race
or nationality, hatreds and animosities fade out of his
heart, and he becomes a man who can work with his
fellowmen for the good of all. It is such a change of
spirit that the world needs today.
Constantinople.
C. F. Gates.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT
An Introductory Study of Moslem Demands*
The Present Crisis
The war, which revealed the secret thoughts of so many
hearts, at present is opening the eyes of the Western na-
tions to that most real and fundamental feeling which the
Moslem Community, "The Ummah," conceals under its
veil, viz. the common griefs of its members, their collec-
tive aspirations, their self-consciousness.
The present crisis is rich in lessons for all the peoples
of the West who still maintain towards their Moslem
friends the well-considered ties of a sympathy which
they have already manifested. Today it would mean
little to acknowledge that no just or permanent peace is
possible in the Orient by holding to the "Curzonian"
formula, namely, that the League of Nations must not at
any price keep alive, by embittering it, the spirit of the
Turkish status quo ante bellum/' and must not bring about
the organization of the intensive exploitation of trade in
Moslem countries by a society of sleeping partners, duly
based on mandates, an exploitation which would deny to
those countries even all participation in the administration
or in the profits of the enterprise. The question is too
largely one of human interests. Moreover it is of the
highest necessity to discover by weighing and comparing
the terms of the written demands presented since 1916
by the various Moslem delegations, what the Moslems
are determined to secure from us, at any price, in order
to continue to live among us and at the same time remain
Moslems, now that the independence of Turkey, the last
material rampart separating them, has been broken down.
* (Translated from the French in Revue du Monde Musulman, Vol, XXXIX, with per-
mission of the author and editor.
THE MOSLEM WORLD
The Explanations Suggested
The public of the West, especially of France, is
beginning to consider seriously the problems of Islam.
They are presented to us daily under two familiar forms,
which are directly accessible: "The Retaliation of the
Nations of Asia upon those of Europe"; and "The Un-
couth Bolshevism of the people of the Orient." Both
cases are a new adaptation of Panislamism — re-edited
with more or less appropriate documentary evidence.
Before fully analyzing what the Moslems actually say
and think, we must rapidly examine these common-
places of Western public opinion, point out that they
are a priori explanations produced purely and simply
by our European brains, and that these projections of our
Western state of mind only prevent us from looking
clearly at the present evolution of Islam.
Panislamism. This curious fiction is a romantic fancy,
made popular in the West since the close of the eight-
eenth Century through the writings of several authors
— chiefly Oriental Christians — from the Armenian
Mouradgea d'Ohsson (1788), to the Greek Orthodox
Sawas Pasha (1898). Having gravely compared the
structure of the Moslem world to that of medieval
Christianity, the Ijmd of the Sunnite Ulemas to the
Ecumenical Councils, and the Khalifat of the Sultan of
Stamboul to the spiritual power of the Pope of Rome,
they have, as Barthold and Nallino^ admirably narrate,
ended by introducing into the language of international
diplomacy the idea of a "spiritual power" of the Ottoman
Sultan (in his capacity as Khalif) an idea which,
adroitly conceived' by the Count Saint-Priest on the occa-
sion of the treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji ( 1774) was subse-
quently invoked in the formation of the treaties of 1909,
191 2, etc., although such an idea is not only directly con-
iBarthoId, ap. Mir Islama. 1912. Nallino "Notes sur le pretcndu Califat Ottoman, 1916."
The only mistake in this title is the confusion of Califat with spiritual power. (Cf.
»nfni p. 13,) There really is a legitimate Khalif ate which is not "pretended."'
2To MTe the Sultan's influence in the Crimea.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT g
trary to the teachings of the Orthodox Moslem scholars,
but also to the most obvious interests of the European
powers which have helped it on at their own expense.
This myth, adopted temporarily by the Turkish liberals
in harmony with Abdul Hamid (constitution of 1876),
did not bring to them the results they expected. They have
abandoned it, while Sunnite Islam never accepted it.
The word ^^panislamism," formed like '^pangerman-
ism" and ''panslavism," is a contradiction in terms.
"Panislamism" does not exist any more than ^'pancatholi-
cism" or '^panbolshevism." There is an Islam, which is
a priori international. Any properly instructed Mos-
lem whatsoever, whether born in Java, Kazan or Fez, has
the right — ipso facto — to exercise immediately certain
canonical functions {qadi, mufti, shahid, modarris, moh-
tasib) with the Moslem community, no matter what city
of any other country he happens to be passing through,
should the community call on him for that purpose. His-
torically the breaking up of the Islamic world into sep-
arate states has multiplied obstacles, paralyzing the
official exercise of this extra-territorial semi-civicism,
from whence result certain so-called panislamic manifes-
tations.^ But the right thus invoked is no pretension; it
is a result of the ^^Brotherhood Pact" which created Islam
(the Day of Aqaba) ; it is the positive base of the Moslem
Community as founded at Medina by Mohammed and
maintained by Abu Bekr against the parochial claims of
the Ansars (Day of the Saqifa).
This democratic notion of an equality in comradeship
among all the Moslems, especially the de jure extra-terri-
toriality of the educated Moslem, the lack of geographical
limitation to the jurisdiction of the Ulemas, is primitive
and fundamental. In no sense is it the result of the myth
of a ''Moslem Papacy," nor does it emanate from that
imaginary ''spiritual power" of which Abdul Hamid
3The Moslem political refugees arriving in Turkey were naturalized as Ottoman subjects
ipso facto.
lo THE MOSLEM WORLD
alone may have fondly dreamed, in the hope of influencing
Moslem self-consciousness beyond his frontiers.
The positive and fundamental basis of the present Mos-
lem claims is as follows : From earliest times the Moslems
have been accustomed to consult their scholars, the
ulemas, beyond their frontiers, on disputed points of doc-
trine and discipline. They claim the right of continuing
to confer together that they may pass upon the "rule of
ordinary life of the community.'' No state of siege, no
press censorship, no internment at Malta or elsewhere,
will ever be able seriously to hinder the exercise of this
right, of this liberty of thinking together so that they may
live together, as long as there are loyal and thoughtful
Moslems in the world.
Thus, without very much surprise, we saw the British
Government, after having interned during the war the
director of the Indian paper, The Comrade, Mr Mo-
hamed Ali, authorize him officially this winter to come
to Europe at the head of the Indian Khilafat Delegation
to expound freely the program of the Indian Mos-
lem demands. This program* compared carefully with
the other demands prepared since 1916 by the chiefs of the
Moslem communities shaken by the war — notably in
Russia* — enables us to give below an inventory of the con-
crete elements of a Moslem policy which has real aims.
We have noticed simultaneously three series of demands:
those of race (national), of class (social) and of culture.
The first two are secondary; the third alone is specifically
Moslem. Let us first of all examine the first two.
The Moslem Xenophobia. In the race war which
Germany wished to unchain in 19 14, she counted for suc-
cess particularly on the support of nationalist movements
among the Moslem subjects of Russia, Great Britain and
France — from Persia and India to Senegal. These
peoples, who for the greater part remained loyal during
the war, are now introduced to us as seething with nation-
«Cf. R.M.M. Vol. XXXIX, p. 22 ff.
>Con grew of Oufa, 1918. Cf. the Egyptian, Syrian, Tunisian, Azerian and Persian
pfosmns.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT ii
alistic movements of hatred to foreigners because they are
Moslems.
It is true that the principle of nationality (alias: "lib-
erty of the people*' — self-determination) imported more-
over from abroad into Islam by the Westerners them-
selves, is more and more utilized and commented upon
in Moslem centers ; that the Moslems of various countries
having gradually come under the control of administra-
tive machinery foreign to them suffer increasingly there-
from; and that they see the remedy of the situation in the
free election of a Chamber of representatives exercising in
their name an effective control on the local legislation,
justice and administration, and preparing the annual
budget. But there is nothing specifically Moslem in this.
And at the same time we must repeat that the excessive use
of the principle of nationality by the Moslems, would be
particularly pernicious to Islam. History shows that
once before, during the tenth century, this principle of
Shu'ubism contributed to the downfall of the Khalifate of
Bagdad. And, at the present moment, there is a striking
example of it; for in becoming too exclusively nationalis-
tic in their views, and uninterested in Mecca, Jerusalem,
Damascus and Constantinople, the Moslem chiefs of na-
tionalistic Egypt are being drawn into the compromise
which Portugal signed in 1703 with Lord .Methuen:
that of having their political independence guaranteed
by Great Britain, at the price of complete economic sub-
jection, depriving them henceforward of all Moslem in-
ternational solidarity.
From a doctrinal point of view Islam is not hostile to
foreigners. The Koran prescribes a holy war to the
death only against those who worship idols, and permits
the conclusion of definite understandings with mono-
theistic people, especially with the Christians and Jews.
The Moslem States have even constantly given over to
these latter certain professions indispensable to city life,
viz. banking and finance and medicine. The Koran simply
12 THE MOSLEM WORLD
warns the faithful not to mingle with these non-Moslem
monotheists, and not to trust the Jews. The only shadow
therefore of xenophobia to be found there would be an
antisemitism: but this antisemitism is a precaution of a
moral order and in no sense an economic demand (as
in Christianity.) As a matter of fact Jews have always
been kindly received in Moslem lands.
Moslem Bolshevism. The intensive propaganda of
social war which the Russian Bolshevists have engaged in
since 191 7 has worked directly against the European Col-
onizing Powers, by appealing to the Moslem inhabitants
of their colonies. Great Britain more than any other
colonizing people^ of the West recognizes this danger,
for she, more than any other, plays the part of ^'capitalist"
as regards the "proletariat" of the lands beyond the seas,
which she utilizes as much for securing at reduced prices
the raw materials she consumes as for selling at a sure
profit the manufactured goods she wishes to export.
India and Egypt are two examples of this, and their Mos-
lem leaders are increasingly conscious of the fact.
It was therefore natural that little by little a political
understanding should be reached in all the countries of
European colonization between the socialist party (3rd
International) of the metropolis and the local Moslem
press. The same urgent necessity summons them: the
duty of emancipating as soon as possible the proletariat
of agricultural and mining laborers — chiefly composed of
Moslems — from the distressing conditions into which the
mechanical operation of Western economic enterprises
keeps them.
They guarantee them gradual improvements — the right
to strike, the reduction of working hours, the increase
of wages and pensions. But in all this there is nothing
specifically Moslem. The very principle of the "class
war," and the whole Marxian proposition are contrary
to the Moslem social structure. Ten centuries ago
eGennanr, which through it» heedless covetousness has been deprived of all colonial
responsibilities, could inaugurate a friendly Moslem policy with much greater facility than
the Allies.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT 13
the great communistic movement of the Qarmatians, who
destroyed the Kabbah, almost succeeded in disintegrating
the Moslem community. And, as then happened, it may
once more let loose those terrible struggles between peas-
ants and townspeople, between bedouins and the artizans,
in which Ibn Khaldun recognized, with great insight,
the normal cause of the downfall of the principal Moslem
States.
II
THE SHA'a'IR AL ISLAM : SOCIAL DEFENSE OF MOSLEM
CIVILIZATION
Let us pass to the inner source of the demands of the
various Moslem populations at the present time. In
France where the racial nationalism has not taken on the
aggressive character assumed in Germany — where Bol-
shevism does not excite the same hopes as in Russia, nor
the same fears as in England — the Moslems expect (and
justly we believe) to be given a better opportunity than
anywhere else for self-expression, for making the
world understand the guiding principles of their de-
mands, and for expounding those arguments which the
masses of the faithful in Islam hold to. What they desire
above all is to be allowed the free exercise of their rules
of ordinary life, as it is expressed in public and in private,
the shaa'ir al Islam or badge of Islam.
If they demand that we respect their alphabet, their
languages, their schools, their press, and their academies,
it is not so much because of their nationalism or xeno-
phobia, as because of the way they have been brought up ;
because their fathers wish to transmit to their children
this rule of ordinary life as a viaticum of immortality.
If they fight for the emancipation of the colonial pro-
letariat, the agricultural and mining laborers — even
though these latter do not form part of the movement — it
is not because of socialism or communism, but because
these laborers and these miners have in common with the
other Moslems a compact of traditional religious brother-
14 THE MOSLEM WORLD
hood, the canonical prescriptions of which they observe,
often with greater fervor than the bourgeois themselves.
Let us then see from their point of view^ in what con-
sists this badge of Islam, which they demand should at all
costs be kept intact and respected throughout the modern
world.
(a) Equality AS Citizens. By this they mean that the
Moslem, without forsaking his personal and family rights
(polygamy, inheritance, contracts) be treated by all states
as a citizen on a footing of equality with non-Moslems,
in order that he also may gradually attain to the same
civil equality which the Jews have finally succeeded in
obtaining throughout the whole world. The political
demands referred to above (revision of taxation, control
of loans, encouragement of local industries) are one by
one to be considered from this angle of social justice.
Thus in Russia, the Moslem minority, admitted into
citizenship without raising the question as to personal
rights, is quietly becoming monogamous — an evolution
which will not be helped by the dilemma which resulted
from last yearns experience in Algeria. The union should
take place in the habits of the people before it is hallowed
by the laws. If we start with this equality of treatment,
first administrative, and later legal, the difficulties will
disappear, the most troublesome of which is still the can-
onical prohibition of mixed marriages.
(b) Religious Autonomy. The whole Moslem pop-
ulation of each country — known as the Moslem Com-
munity — should be recognized as a legal society, having
the right to administer its own canonical affairs and to
elect a corporate Council authorized to control, with the
protection of the State and without improper intervention,
all religious affairs, such as:
The Moslem schools {maktab, madrasah) ; deciding
TThe details which follow are taken from the principal official memoranda presented
since 1916 by the qualified Moslem delegations from Asia and Africa, and especially from
the resolutions of the Turco-Tatarian Congress of Oufa, 191 8.
sThe wife may remain non-Moslem, but the husband and all the children must become
Moslems. This rule is not expressly Koranic; and there might possibly be some
mitigation.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT 15
their own pedagogical methods, reforms in language and
writing, preparation of text-books, schedule of courses
(primary, secondary, and higher) ; the establishment of
new schools, libraries, and museums; and the publication
of newspapers for the instruction of the community.
Koranic courts for all questions of personal rights,
such as the examination of the qualifications of candidates
for the positions of qadi and mufti, their promotion, and
the organization by this Council of a Moslem Office for
legal and advisory assistance, attached to the State Court
of Appeal; Koranic-control of intemperance, usury and
prostitution.
The control of public worship and religious founda-
tions: the proper administration of property given for
the maintenance of educational and benevolent institutions
{Habus, Awkaf) ; the introduction of new assessments
and the compulsory collection of the same for the above
purposes;^ the celebration of feasts, and the observance
of fasting; repairs to mosques, maintenance of cemeteries
(and their inviolability) ; the establishment of benevolent
societies and hospitals, and the recognition of the nomadic
tribe as a responsible individual (against arbitrary ex-
propriation).
(c) Participation in the government, with proportional
aid therefrom. For example: if the absolute majority
of a given district is Moslem, there should be a Moslem
as the chief local administrator; if not, at least one official
specially entrusted with Moslem affairs. And further-
more there should be a Moslem delegate, elected by the
community, to defend its interests with the administration.
In the general or local budget of Public Instruction,
there should be a proportional amount assigned to the
Moslem schools; the Moslem students should be given
assurance that they will find in the other schools instruc-
tion in their own language and religion. Legal pro-
ceedings should be held in the language spoken by
9lslam does not admit of a complete separation of State and religious institutions; it
requires the secular power.
i6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Moslems or translated into it, if one of the parties (in
the civil court) or the accused (in criminal cases) should
be a Moslem ; the judges should know how to speak and
write this language if fifty per cent, of the population be
Moslem.
Ill
COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE OF THE KHALIFATE
Up to this point the demands do not differ, to any
great extent, from those of corporate and religious bodies
with which modern states have to deal, and which they
have a vital interest in utilizing as a protection against
the disintegrating propaganda of the anarchists. We now
come to the last and most specifically Moslem demand:
The complete independence of the Khalifate.
The Moslems are doubtless willing (and they have
proved it) to be loyal subjects, and faithful citizens of
foreign states; but, in order to have the assurance of the
Divine mercy and to persevere patiently in the united ob-
servance of their faith, they need to know, to proclaim and
to have it recognized that somewhere on this earth there is
a Moslem chief whose authority comes from God alone,^^
who maintains the prescribed rules intact and punishes
illegal acts in accordance with the text of the Koran."
It is not at all necessary that they become his subjects;
but they must pray for him in order that this permanent
proof of the truth of their faith shall exist'^ on the earth
visible to all: a defender of the law}^
Such is the deep meaning of the Khalifate for Islam
past and present. As Adam was ordained Khalif of God
on earth, as the first four Khalifs succeeded Mohammed,
so there must always be in this world a living proof of Is-
lam, an executive power that governs in accordance with
the Koran, and that receives inspiration from the Coun-
cils of the Ulemas. It is not absolutely necessary to be
lOThere is no distinction between the spiritual and the temporal.
llAnd with the example of Mohammed as the Koran states it.
izThe "Hidden Imam ' of the Shi'ites and the Quth of the mystics are exaggerations and
misrepresentations of this requirement.
isDefender, not aggressive conqueror. His character is essentially defensive, as for
example the guardian of deposit.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT 17
placed under his direct orders; to obey him is not a
compulsory duty such as the obedience required by the
Koran for the five faraid. Even for his own direct sub-
jects the Khalif of the Sunnites is only an administrator
who may be recalled, a guardian commissioned by the
Community; he has neither legislative initiative (which
belongs to the Koran alone), nor judicial authority (which
belongs to the Ulemas.) He has merely a temporal ex-
ecutive power; he leads the public prayers {Imam-as-
salat)^ and by legal sanctions, reminds the public of the
respect due to the law. And this is sufficient in order that,
in return, all sincere Moslems should pray for him pub-
licly in the mosques.
Thus, very naturally, since all the other independent
Moslem States have disappeared, the affection of the
faithful in the Orient is concentrated on the one remaining
sovereign who is still capable of filling the role of Khalif,
the last "defender of the Law." And imperceptibly with-
out the aid of any Turkish propaganda, and despite police
persecutions, the name of the Sultan of Stamboul has been
introduced in the Friday \Khutba in the mosques; in Rus-
sia since the eighteenth century, in Turkestan for one
hundred years, and in India for fifty years. This, more-
over, expresses no immediate desire for political submis-
sion to the Ottoman Government.
Attempts have been made to discover in this demand
for the complete independence of the Khalifate an evolu-
tion of Islam towards the Christian theory of "spiritual
power,'"* an imitation of the Papacy. Nothing of the kind.
And the delegates from India replied admirably to Mr.
Lloyd George on the 19th of last March that the Khalif
is not a "Pope at the Vatican," still less a "Pope at Avig-
non"; that he cannot be vaticanized and that nothing can
be served by drawing analogies from other religions to
tear asunder and devitalize Islam by means of distinctions
between the "temporal and spiritual," or "Church and
1.4 See above, page 2, 3.
i8 THE MOSLEM WORLD
State."^^ Islam needs to know that there is somewhere on
earth a Moslem sovereign, absolutely free, whose power
of being '^rightly guided" depends on God alone/® This
is all. The name to be given him ^'Khalif, imam, amir
al-mu minin , or mahdi," is of secondary importance.
Who can this sovereign be, and where should he reside?
At the moment when the Moslem policy of the Allies,
directed by Lord Kitchener, was striking at Turkey
(1915), England believed that it was possible to find
eventually a Khalif in the Sherif Hussein, at Mecca. He
was an Arab, a descendant of the prophet, and the
guardian of the holy cities : he became temporarily, while
awaiting something better, the King of the Hejaz.
After four years of experience it does not appear that
his popularity with the Moslems has greatly increased.
Not that he has lacked personal qualities ; he scrupulously
defended Islam in the Hejaz against indiscreet encroach-
ments and demands for concessions during these years of
military cooperation with the Allies, where he had neither
the initiative of operations, not the choice of means.
He has understood thoroughly, on the other hand, that
his principal chance, besides the scrupulous guardianship
of strict orthodoxy, lay in the traditional attachment of
the Arabs of Mesopotamia to the descendants of the
Prophet. But at this point he ran against the lack of
intelligence and the hostility of the Anglo-Indian Gov-
ernment; and now when the more comprehensive point
of view of Lord Allenby seems to be discussed in London
for Mesopotamia (Sherif Abdallah) it is perhaps too
late.
Deprived of an adequate base of operations, and sur-
rounded by competitors in Arabia, the king of the Hejaz,
has had to renounce formally all pretention to the
Khalifate,'^ and if the other Moslem countries persist in
leSee the official account — Indian Khilafat Delegation Publications III, 0. 7; IV, p. 9;
II, p. 5 J I, p. 6.
I8lt IS therefore impossible to make him renounce in advance the prayers which the
Moslems would offer in his name, beyond his frontiers, although art. 139 of the San Remo
scheme seems to propose this very thing.
I7ln 1 91 7- 191 8 he wished to take the title not of amir al mu'minin, but the more ex-
plicit one Imam al Haramain — leader of prayer in the two holy cities, as he stated in a
solemn proclamation in which uniting with the moderate Shi'ism of the Zaidites (his old
adversaries of Yemen) he had to announce the definite downfall of the Khalifate.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT 19
refusing to recognize him so long as he does not put him-
self once more under the suzerainty of the Ottoman
Khalif, he is menaced with having either to sub-
mit or to abdicate. Great Britain, by compelling him in
January, 1919, to surrender his Indian guest, Maulana
Mahmoud Hassan Sahib, of Deoband (the representative
at Medina of the association of the ^'Servants" of the
Ka'bah', and a respected Ulema) in order to intern him
in Malta, has greatly discredited the king of the Hejaz
in the eyes of the Indian Moslems.
It has also been repeated a little too often, since 1916,
that the Arabian king would serve as a counterpoise to
the Ottoman Sultan. Such is at least Lord Curzon's
policy of balance which certain Italo-British writers
advise the League of Nations to adopt in regard to Islam.
Nallino, on this point, gave a glimpse of what Insabatto
has developed, ^^ i. e. the theory that it is to the 'interest"
of the Western Powers to support a single Arabian
Khalifate — Qoreishite and Meccan — whose chief, held at
their discretion in the Hejaz, would be conveniently
utilized by them as an extra-territorial arbiter. He would,
when requested, regulate in Mecca the administrative
litigations which might arise between them and the Mos-
lems of their colonies, since, as Insabatto remarks, with
a Machiavellian touch, the temporal executive power of
the Khalif would suffice, in accordance with the Moslem
law, to start the whole movement of administrative re-
forms, whereas in the West these reforms are only ob-
tained at the price of a revolution.
All this makes clear the intensity of the reproaches
which the great majority of the non-Arabic Moslems have
directed against the king.'^ They blame him for having
been the cat's paw for the enemies of Islam, for having
smitten it to the very heart at Mecca by his revolt of May
30th, 1916, in order that they might strike it on the head
i8Cf. R.M.M. XXXVIII p. 262.
iSVery unjustly, for he saw plainly that in face of the heresies of Union and Progress
he had to guard Moslem Orthodoxy scrupulously, and be much more conservative than
the Ottoman Sultan.
20 THE MOSLEM WORLD
by occupying Stamboul (March i6, 1920) ; for having
mobilized against it (Islam) the nationalist spirit of the
Arabs — while the Turks suffered passively for it. In-
dians, Malays, and Persians agree on this point, as do
also — among the Arab-Moslems — the Egyptians and
Tunisians. Finally the Moslems of Russia speak of boy-
cotting for a period of ten years the pilgrimage to the
Hejaz, as long as the king reigns there.
In revenge, this same Moslem majority is determined to
continue to consider the Ottoman Sultan as the only legiti-
mate Khalif and to keep his name in the Friday Khotba.^^
They consider that, thanks to him, the Turkish peasant has
been more profoundly Islamized in his daily life than the
Arab nomads. But they admit that, if necessary, the depo-
sition and replacement of the Turkish Khalif might be
considered, if the nationalist intolerance of his pan-Turan-
ian advisors should continue to provoke the Arabs to
schism, and if the moral corruption of his statesmen
should bring to a head the foreign intervention in the ma-
terial and intellectual inheritance of the Moslem East.
Under these circumstances it seems that the less Euro-
pean States interfere in this quarrel among the Moslems,
the better it will be for the whole world. The key of the
question of the balance of power is found in Mesopo-
tamia. If the Khutba is recited in Bagdad as it is already
recited in Damascus on behalf of amir al-muminin
Hussein — the Ottoman Khalif will still be threatened
with deposition, and the loyalty of Islam be divided for a
time between two camps, as has happened before. ^^
The social reorganization of Islam as an international
community moreover is only just beginning. The great
movement for Moslem unity inaugurated forty years
ago by Seyid Jamal ad-Din al Afghani," is going on and
20lt is well known that whereas the name of the Sherif Hussein was recited in the
Khutba on the Syrian coast at the close of 1918, now in February, 1920, the name of the
Ottoman sultan is once more recited.
2iNotably from 657 to 660 (AH and Mo'awiyah); the acts of the two contemporary
titularies are considered equally valid (Hanbalites, Karamites.) This solution is the rule
among the Zeidites.
22Cf. R.M.M. XII 561 ff. XXII 181 flF.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT 21
extending, thanks to the writers known as Salafiyah. From
all parts a sustained effort can be traced, directed not only
towards the fusion of the four Sunnite legal schools, but
also towards a reconciliation between the Sunnites,
Shi^tes, Wahhabites, Kharijites, and even the Ismaelians
and the Sikhs, to be accomplished through a simplification
of the law and a return to the Koran. But in dogma and
in teaching this agreement will come slowly; it will prob-
ably only be realized after a conference between the
different national congresses of the ^Ulemas such as func-
tion in India and Russia; or perhaps through an inter-
national Moslem congress such as the late Gasprinsky
Bey proposed.^^ And it is this congress in the last resort,
which would settle the dispute regarding the Khalifate
which is now pending between the Arabs and Turks.
Thus Islam would return to its original consultative prin-
ciples, to the elective Shura, abandoned in 680 by
Mo'awiyah.
IV
THE DAR-AL-ISLAM.
The question of the ^'place of residence" of the Khalif
brings us face to face with the last concrete case to be
considered here, viz., that of specifically Moslem territory
(opposed to the ''Dar-al-harb," or pagan country, where
the Mohammedan cannot live in peace, and should not
enter save to fight idolatry). It comprises four distinct
categories: forbidden, reserved, canonical, and unre-
deemed territory.
(a) The forbidden territory: land on which no non-
Moslem is allowed openly to set his foot, under the
penalty of death. This comprises the Holy Places and
their sacred surroundings, Haram. There are four such
principal places: Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem and He-
bron, to which the Sunnite Indians add, on the demand of
the Shi'ites, the '^sacred tombs" of Nedjef, Kerbela, Kaz-
main. Samara and Bagdad. These forbidden areas are
23Cf. R.M.M. Ill 498, 545, IV 100, 151, V 173, XVIII 216. It appears very improbable
that this congress could ever coincide at Mecca with the canonical pilgrimage, as the
partisans of the Qoreishite Khalifate wish.
22 THE MOSLEM WORLD
of various dimensions. They may be only a rock enclosed
by a railing (as the sakhra at Jerusalem), or an open
space surrounded with chains (Hebron, Kerbela, Kaz-
main), or a group of mosques. The Haram of Mecca
and of Medina, however, have been gradually enlarged
by the growth of intolerance^* to include not only the
adjacent zone within which the pilgrims must put on the
^Hhram,^'' but almost the whole of the Arabian peninsula
(except the interior of the Yemen, where Jews are still
tolerated). The bickerings about Europeans and the
consuls, penned up in Jiddah,^^ are well known; and even
during the war England had in 1917 to give up a landing
of troops at Yanbo, as originally planned, and the non-
Moslem allied ofBcers (English and French) were only
permitted to travel in the interior of the country one by
one and for a short time, beyond the limits of Jiddah,
Yanbo, Wejh and Akaba.
(b) The reserved territory : that is, the "territory over
which it is an article of the Moslem faith that no political
control by any foreign power can be tolerated." The
great majority of Moslems place in this category, first of
all, Constantinople, the predestined capital of the Khali-
fate — a conquest promised to a Moslem chief as a blessing
and a guarantee of orthodoxy by very ancient prophetic
traditions.^® The few who favor the Arabian Khalifate
(with its seat in Mecca) require as a minimum the
"neutralization" of Constantinople.
In the second place the Moslems consider as reserved
territory certain countries where Islam has ruled con-
tinously as a sovereign power. Those who uphold the
Indian school, in accordance with the authorized opinion
of Dr. M. A. Ansari, issued in Delhi, 1918, limit geo-
graphically this term to the "Jazirat al Arab," i.e.
Arabia, Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Certain pro-
Hejaz Egyptians, like M. S. Arafati, basing their
statements on the history of the Mohammedan conquest,
24Cf. R.M.M. XXX VIII p. 84. The rule is not due to any injunction of the Prophet
25Such as the affair of the "Tomb of Eve."
26Notably in the Sahih of Muslim in the ninth century of our era.
WHAT MOSLEMS EXPECT 33
give the name of Dar-al-Islam to the whole of the coun-
tries conquered "under the first four Khalifs/' thus adding
to those mentioned above, Persia, Egypt, possibly Afghan-
istan and Cyrenaica.
It will be noticed that the Powers seem to accept the
principle of the first statement. The establishment, how-
ever, of a Jewish home in Palestine will be difficult to
reconcile with the second. The Hejaz alone appears
up to this point to have been treated as "Reserved Terri-
tory" (Treaty of San Remo).
(c) The canonical territory : that is, the territory where
the Moslem is obliged openly to observe his religion
without dissimulation. The present usage considers as
canonically Moslem countries, every region where the
Moslem population, even though in the minority, is com-
pact enough to have arranged for the public observance
of their rules of ordinary life, and sufficiently active to
have had the authorities, when non-Moslem, enact that
the observance of the five canonical and compulsory duties
of a Moslem be officially respected. Thus in all epochs
there have been countries which were not politically
Moslem, but which were recognized centers of Moslem
social life; such as Gujerat from the eighth to the thir-
teenth century, Constantinople during the last years of
the Greek Empire, the Crimea since 1774, Abyssinia and
Yunnan since 1873, Kansu since 1879, Dobroudja and
Thessaly since 1878, Uganda and Bosnia since 1909, and,
according to certain fatwas obtained by Hunter and Leon
Roches, British India and French Algiers since their
occupation.
(d) The unredeemed territory. This last claim, how-
ever impractical it may appear, must also have a place
here. To the eyes of the sincere believer, all lands prev-
iously occupied by Islam where there are still centers of
public worship, erected for canonical prayer, remain
"Moslem Lands" (cemeteries, etc.) Such are Budapest,
Monastir and Silistria for the old Moslems of Stamboul;
24 THE MOSLEM WORLD
such was Kazan from the sixteenth to the eighteenth
century, as long as persecution prevented the renovation
of the mosques and the public calling of the ddhdn. This
feeling for the unredeemed land is a fact. It not only
inspires the poets with persistent sorrow for the loss of
Andalusia, the Balearic Isles, Sicily and Crete, but also
the categoric reply of non possumus given by all Islam
to the suggestion of an eventual restitution (even
archaeological) of ancient churches or synagogues sub-
sequently changed into mosques : the tombs of Hosea and
Ezekiel in Iraq, the mosque of Abu '1-Hajjaj at Luxor,
of Nabi Daniel at Alexandria, ancient churches in Tunis,
Saint Sophia at Constantinople, the Temple (Sakhra)
and the Cenacle — (Nabi Daud) in Jerusalem, have all
during these last few years in various degrees been
the occasion of an important exchange of views.
We believe that these are the lines on which the Mos-
lems intend to act in social matters at the present moment.
It would indeed be possible to bring to a successful issue
certain discussions now agitating on the surface a part of
the Moslem world, by simply taking advantage of race
or clan hostilities (a pro-Arab or pro-Turkish policy),
or of class animosity (a makhzen or siba policy). But
such an attempt to gain a momentary political equilibrium
is artificial and self-destructive. The time has come,
especially in France, to make further progress. A really
effective Moslem policy must face the question here and
now how the peculiar phases of Moslem social life can
adapt themselves in the near future to the modern world,
since they refuse to pass out of existence; and must con-
sider up to what point the protection of our Western
social order will permit of cooperation with the Moslems
in the defence of their own culture, of their rule of
ordinary life, and of that which has been handed down
to them as believers. France, who was the first to give
the right of citizenship to the Jews, owes it to herself to
take, when the moment comes, the same initiative for
Islam.
Paris, June, IQ20. LOUIS MaSSIGNON.
OUR METHOD OF JUDGING ISLAM
Religion has, and must necessarily have, relation to the
total conditions of life — the stage of culture and civiliza-
tion reached. Accordingly, even if the saying that each
people had the religion best suited for it had ever been
true, it can be true no longer; for the changes in those
conditions for all the peoples, with few exceptions, are so
many and rapid, that only a religion which had quite an
exceptional capacity for adaptation could hold its own.
As, owing to geographical exploration, mechanical inven-
tion, scientific discovery — with their consequences in the
industry, commerce and intercourse of the nations, the
conditions are more and more tending to become the same,
it is evident that the religion which would fulfil the re-
quirement of being entirely satisfactory, must needs be a
religion which can adapt itself to the culture and civiliza-
tion which are spreading throughout the world, and which
if not yet dominant, are afifecting even the nations which
are coming into any contact with European peoples. As
isolation of life is becoming less and less possible, so differ-
ent religions for different peoples are proving less and
less practicable. One culture and one civilization for the
world will also demand one religion; and the satisfactori-
ness or otherwise of any claimant for that position must be
determined by its adaptability to the most exacting de-
mands which the total conditions of life may make. Even
if a savage found full satisfaction in Animism, or a semi-
civilized man in Islam, that does not prove that either
Animism or Islam could meet the needs of civilized man.
Mankind is moving as a whole towards a stage in its
development which will antiquate religions which
hitherto have had a relative right to existence as prac-
ticable in a transitory phase of human thought and life.
We need not make abstract comparisons of religions as
25
26 THE MOSLEM WORLD
they are represented in their sacred scriptures to discover
defects or excellencies. What we have to ask is this
question: As the world is now developing, is there a
religion which will not be left behind, but can keep step
with its progress?
It is in this way that the problem of Christianity in
relation to Islam must be approached. There are two
considerations which make this problem of special sig-
nificance. First of all, Islam is in many parts of the
world the most formidable rival which Christianity has
to meet among the barbarous and semi-civilized peoples;
and it is a rival, and not a herald, for the assumption that
Islam could prepare the way for Christianity has no
justification. Secondly, of all the great world-religions,
Islam alone has from the beginning been a supplanter of
Christianity. Mohammed was in contact with Jews and
Christians, and he established his religion to supplant
Judaism and Christianity, and in many lands Islam has
succeeded as a supplanter. It is true that his knowledge
of both was imperfect, and that he came in contact with
corrupt forms of both. Had he known the Christ of the
New Testament, would he have claimed to be the prophet
of Allah with absolute authority? Be that as it may, this
serious consideration confronts us, that Islam has proved
a rival which can command success. The contest between
the Cross and the Crescent is thus a critical and crucial
contest; and it has an interest and importance that no other
contact of Christianity with another religion can com-
mand. In what way can we judge Islam so as to deter-
mine what the issue of the conflict should be?
As man is rational, aesthetic and moral as well as
religious, a religion must show intellectual adequacy,
aesthetic attractiveness, moral efficacy as well as religious
satisfaction for the man who has reached the highest stage
of human development hitherto attained, if it is to prove
its claim to become the world-religion. How does Islam
meet these tests?
It has this in common with Christianity as at least an
OUR METHOD OF JUDGING ISLAM 27
initial qualification, that it is monotheistic and opposed to
idolatry. Pluralism may be regarded as a philosophical
freak; for if the modern mind is to have any belief in
the divine, it can believe only in one God in all, through
all, and over all ; polytheism cannot survive with modern
science and philosophy. Whatever may be said in favor
of the sacramental principle — the material as the symbol
or channel of the spiritual — idolatry is no longer toler-
able as a mode of worship. Hence, if Christianity is not
to forfeit its claim in comparison with Islam, it must be
on its guard to maintain a strict monotheism, and to
abstain from all idolatry. The unity of the Godhead
must be rigidly asserted, and the belief in God as Father,
Son and Holy Spirit must not be allowed to sink to a
tritheism — as in popular thought and speech it often
does. As the word ^'person" has now misleading asso-
ciations, and has lost the meaning it had when used by the
framers of the creeds, the missionary must exercise great
care both in his own thought and his teaching in the use
of that terminology. This is not the occasion for an
exposition of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity; but
it can, I believe, be so given as to preserve monotheism,
and (what is very important for the missionary) to cor-
rect the defects of Islamic monotheism. For Islam, God
is a solitary being, and has not in Himself the promise
and potency of relationship, love, society; and as man's
personality is social, and cannot be conceived in isolation,
the God of Islam cannot be conceived as fully personal.
For Islam, the relation of God to the world is external
and arbitrary, for He is by the necessity of His nature
transcendent, and cannot be thought of as immanent.
(Pantheism and mysticism are repugnant to orthodox
Islam.) Hence, man is placed in relation to God as
creature, subject, or even slave, and not as son; and the
Incarnation has been misrepresented as ascribing a carnal
relation to God. The doctrine of the Trinity harmonizes
divine transcendence and divine immanence, and so meets
a demand both of modern thought and of the religious
28 THE MOSLEM WORLD
consciousness. The character of God suffers in conse-
quence of the conception of the divine nature and rela-
tions. Whatever of moral and spiritual content Chris-
tian thought can put into the name Father, is necessarily
absent from Islam. God is absolute and tyrannical will,
and even His mercy has no moral content. There is a
superseded type of Christian theology to which Islamic
theology has some resemblance; but what the missionary
must preach is the God and Father of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. It must be recognized that the
two distinctive Christian doctrines — the Trinity and the
Incarnation — present the greatest difficulty to the mind
of Moslems, and that both can be so presented in a crude
form as to justify their opposition. Nevertheless, Chris-
tian theology can so expound both doctrines as to correct
the defects of Islamic, and to exhibit the excellencies of
Christian monotheism. Here must the issue in theology
be met, if Christianity is to win Islam.
A detailed comparison of other doctrines is not neces-
sary, as this article does not aim at being exhaustive, only
suggestive, and must be limited to the points of primary
significance. The comparison of the two religions as
regards their aesthetic attractiveness must also for this
reason be passed over; and we must turn to the question
of moral efficacy. A comparison of moral codes, and even
of moral practices, would not go to the root of the matter.
The true test is this — what is the judgment of sin, and
what is the standard of holiness? As has been just indi-
cated, the conception of the character of Allah is defec-
tive; and it needs no proof to those who know the facts
that the character of Allah's prophet, Mohammed him-
self, does not afford so excellent an example as would
compensate for that defect. Christ enjoins on His dis-
ciples to be perfect, as the Father in heaven is perfect;
and the divine perfection which He reveals in the Father
is holy love, a perfection as communicative as it is com-
plete. He himself realizes under human conditions and
within human limitations as the perfect Son, the perfec-
OUR METHOD OF JUDGING ISLAM 29
tion of the Father. Be it observed that here the moral
demand and the religious relation form an absolute
harmony. As culture and civilization advance, the
progress of human morality has been, it will be fully
conceded, towards the Christian ideal of holy love, and
not towards the restricted code of laws which Islam
prescribes. The standard of holiness will determine the
judgment of sin. Hence, the religion in which the holy
love of God is revealed is also the religion which requires
and provides for mankind an atonement for sin. Such
belief in atonement as there is in the heretical Shi^te form
of Islam indicates a human need which the orthodox
Mohammedan theology does not meet; but it does not
come into comparison as regards moral significance with
the Christian doctrine of the Cross. An exposition of the
Christian doctrine cannot here be expected of me, and
probably such exposition as I might offer might not com-
mand the assent of all readers. But enough common
ground there is for all Christian believers to warrant the
Christian missionary in affirming that God as revealed
in Christ takes sin so seriously that only by the sacrifice
of His Son could He save man from sin, and that Chris-
tian believers take sin so seriously that in accepting
Christ's sacrifice they die unto sin that they may live unto
God. It need hardly be urged with what care the doc-
trine of the atonement must be expounded in order that
none of its moral efficacy may be lost. If Paul himself
feared that his exposition of grace might lead to the
misunderstanding, ^'Shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound?" (Romans vi. i) how much care must we
ever exercise so as not to make the Christ of none effect.
Islam does not stimulate a human conscience which de-
mands an atonement for sin, and so does not provide the
atonement which alone meets the demand.
While it is here that the moral test must be applied,
yet we may now turn, and ask. What do the moral code
and practice of Islam prove in respect of moral efficacy?
There are three questions we may ask: What sins has this
30 THE MOSLEM WORLD
religion moral insight enough to condemn, and moral
power enough to prevent? What sins does it condemn
without preventing? What sins does it not condemn nor
prevent, but even approve? A merit which is sometimes
claimed for Islam in comparison with Christianity is that
it forbids the use of intoxicating liquors. We need not
grudge it what praise it deserves on this account. But we
must press the question. Does it always prevent the use
of what it condemns? The answer that candid Moham-
medans have given is that it does not. We may further
ask. Is a negative prohibition morally most efficacious?
Even if it does prevent one evil, does it promote moral
progress? Christians must be ashamed of the drunken-
ness which disgraces countries nominally Christian. They
must lament that even many who make a Christian pro-
fession are lax in their practice in this respect. But on
the other hand it may be maintained that no man who is
really filled with the spirit will be drunken with wine,
and that the Christian motives for total abstinence which
are urged in the most advanced Christian circles, namely,
complete self-control and scrupulous regard for others,
have a higher moral value than a negative prohibition
alone can have.
Where Islam dominates a society, there three moral
evils prevail, polygamy, slavery and religious persecu-
tion ; and of these three evils we may say that this religion
does not condemn them, and does not merely tolerate
them, but even approves them. In fairness to Islam we
may consider all that can be said in defense. Polygamy
and slavery at a certain social development had a relative
justification. It was better that several women should as
wives be under the protection of one man than be exposed
to lustful violence, because not so protected. It was
better that an enemy should be enslaved than slaughtered.
But the social conditions were savage in which both
institutions arose, and with the passage of those conditions,
both became a moral offence. While Islam did not
invent either institution, it has perpetuated both; the
OUR METHOD OF JUDGING ISLAM 31
regulation of both in the Koran has given them an endur-
ing place in Mohammedan society. Not only so, but in
the Moslem conception of man's relation to God, and
the consequent relation of men to one another, there is no
principle such as there is in Christianity, which must lead
inevitably to their abolition. This is the truth and grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He did not by regulation
of social institutions secure for them a permanent validity
in His religious community, but by laying down prin-
ciples of a permanent and universal authority He pro-
vided for a progressive morality in a developing society.
Christendom is not free from the reproach of religious
persecution, but both by precept and practice Mohammed
gave to the Jihad, or religious war, an approval and com-
mendation that the Christian Scriptures do not give.
These must suffice as samples of the moral defects of
Islam. The condition of Moslem lands to-day is the
judgment of history on its inferiority to Christianity
when and where practice conforms to profession.
Turning now to the religious satisfaction which Islam
in comparison with Christianity may afford, we must
remind ourselves that in addition to offering a world-view
in its theology, and a guide to life in its ethics, there are
especially two needs of the soul of man which a religion
should meet, and these are suggested in Hebrews xi. i
as the functions of faith : "faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" — a statement
which we may paraphrase thus: faith makes the future
as certain as the present, and the invisible as real as the
visible. A religion, to satisfy fully, must make God real
and immortality certain, but the value of that satisfaction
will depend on the quality of the fellowship with God
given, and of the hope for the hereafter offered, and also
on the relation of thought between the fellowship and the
hope. The fellowship which man has with God, as Islam
conceives Him, is and cannot be anything else than sub-
mission; man must accept whatever God appoints. Such
submission need not be slavish or ignoble: its motive
3
32 THE MOSLEM WORLD
need not be fear alone, or its result mere passivity.
Calvinism also demanded such submission, and it made
strong and worthy men; but Calvinism could put a con-
tent into its conception of God that Islam cannot. Never-
theless while submission to God is an essential element of
religion, and much piety to-day is ineffective because it
lacks this element, it is not the whole of religion. What
Christianity offers is an intimate, personal communion of
the believer with God in Christ, which as it exercises so
it also satisfies the whole personality. It is God, the
ultimate cause, the final purpose, the infinite and eternal
reality, to whom man is related ; and as God is revealed
as holy love, it is God as complete and communicative
perfection whom man has as his highest good, giving
meaning and worth to all other goods which are His gift.
It is also God in Christ, and so God as man, God invested
with all the truth and grace, the kindness, tenderness,
helpfulness, forbearance and forgiveness present in the
historical reality of Jesus Christ. How close and full can
be the fellowship with God in Christ, and how satisfying!
However highly the Moslem may value Mohammed as
prophet, or even as intercessor, there can be no counter-
part in Islam to this distinctive Christian experience, of
which Paul may be taken as a typical instance. Not in
all who confess Christ as Saviour and Lord does this
experience in all its fullness become actual; but, possible
it is for all in some measure, allowing for all natural
differences which do condition even the spiritual life.
All that a perfect human friendship could offer is taken
up into the perfect divine communion. Neither apart
from the other might, but both together do give this
perfect satisfaction which religion seeks. And this re-
ligious satisfaction is also morally satisfying, for in it
alone is found the moral motive, the moral power, and the
moral end, which alone suffice for the fullest and freest
development of the finest and strongest moral personality.
God's companions progress towards perfection in their
OUR METHOD OF JUDGING ISLAM 33
communion with Him who is the eternal reality of all
perfection.
Because this life with God is also life in the eternal
reality, it is already eternal life; it has the promise and
the potency of immortality, for it has that quality which
deserves and assures continuance. The belief in a future
life may have no moral and religious value, if the life, the
continuance of which is expected, has not moral and
religious value. While the Moslem's expectation of
Paradise may sustain and even inspire him in the Jihad,
and the dread of torments might restrain him from evil
doing, it cannot be said that what the Koran has to say
about the future life has its roots in religious experience,
or its fruits in moral character, that it has a quality which
will cleanse and hallow this present life. The hope rests
on the Prophet's words alone, and has not its inward con-
firmation in the Moslem's heart, as has the Christian's
who lives in fellowship with the Son of God, who died,
rose again and liveth for evermore, who as the first-fruits
of them that sleep is already a foretaste of the coming
glory. Even if sometimes popular Christian hymns have
used the figurative language of Scripture to give a sensu-
ous conception of the future life, yet they do not make an
appeal to sensuality as do Koranic descriptions of the joys
of Moslem warriors in Paradise, which the majority of
Mohammedans will take literally and not figuratively,
and which Mohammed, being what he was, probably
meant to be taken literally, for as he yielded to his own
passions, so he was not above using the passions of man
for his own purposes. When we penetrate beneath the
figurative language of our Scriptures, we find that the
future life has a moral and religious quality, worthy as a
gift of holy love. To be with Christ, to see Christ as He
is, to become like Him — even if we recognize the in-
adequacy of all human language in regard to what God
has prepared for those who love Him — these are aspira-
tions which will purify and prepare the human person-
ality for perfection.
34 THE MOSLEM WORLD
I have offered these illustrations — and they seem to me
to include all that is primary and essential in the presenta-
tion of the Gospel — as to the judgment of Islam in com-
parison with Christianity in order to suggest subjects and
methods of thought to my brethren whose privilege it is
to labor and wait for the triumph of the Cross over the
Crescent. I do not presume to instruct them how to speak
to Moslems, for they have, as I have not, practical experi-
ence of what to give and what to withhold so that they
may get the points of contact and the lines of least
resistance for their hearers. As one who sets all his con-
structive efforts in theology on the content of the com-
parative study of religions, it is my hope that I may have
made a contribution, however small, to that co-operation
between Christian theologians at home and Christian
missionaries abroad, which is urgently demanded by the
interests of the Kingdom of God in the world.
Alfred E. Garvie.
New College, London, England.
TURKISTAN--A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD
As in the sphere of daily life, so also in the higher
sphere of missionary calling and choice, there seems to be
an unexplained ''something" which makes for love or for
indifference: some mission fields attract and inspire to
heroic deeds, others are ''passed by" — and this seems to
be the case with Turkistan.
I have often wondered — and lately felt the burden of
it on my heart — that Turkistan should seem so undesirable
and remain uncoveted by friends of missionary enter-
prise. Who of my readers has ever seen the vision and
heard the call of that field? And yet no one will deny,
that it was included in the sweeping Kingly command to
"go into all the world." It is with the purpose of bring-
ing Turkistan before the readers of "The Moslem World"
that these lines have been written, and with the prayer
that when the patient reader shall have emerged from the
geography, history, ethnography, and the description
of the religious and social life of Turkistan, the Lord
God would make this, seemingly dry, material to appeal
to him, illuminating it with a spark of fire from above.
Physical Geography
(See map facing page it.)
The whole territory occupied by what is known as
Russian Central Asia, or Russian Turkistan, covers an
area larger than former Austria and Germany, France,
Italy and Denmark put together. It consists of the five
Governorships: Syr-Darya, Ferghana, Semiryetchinsk,
Samarkand, and the Transcaspian Region, and the two
vassal states: the Khanats of Bokhara and of Khiva.
All these together form an irregularly-shaped triangle,
whose base lies in the north, and measures from east to
west about 1,500 miles. It lies between 38° 40' and
47° 35 North latitude — the same latitude as Spain, South
36 THE MOSLEM WORLD
of France, Italy, Greece, Anatolia, etc., and from 56° 20'
to 72° 50' east of Greenwich. The natural limits of
Turkistan are the Caspian and Aral Seas on the west,
the steppes of the Provinces of Tourgay, Akmolinsk and
Semipalatinsk on the north, that of Semiryetchinsk on
the east. As all these provinces belong to Russia, these
boundaries have no political but purely administrative
interest. The easternmost point of Turkistan touches
Mongolia (formerly part of China). The southern
frontier lies along Chinese Turkistan or Kashgaria, passes
south of the Pamir to Kafiristan, and on over high
mountain-chains north of Afghanistan to the river Amou-
Darya, from there directly west through the desert,
crosses the Mourg-ab and goes along the Heriroud to
Sserachs. Here Persia begins, and the frontier follows
the mountain-chain of the Kopet-Dagh till it reaches the
Caspian Sea. This mountainous frontier protects Russian
Central Asia from attacks from the south, but also shuts
her ofif from free intercourse with Afghanistan, China,
and India.
The relief of Turkistan is extremely varied: Snow-
covered mountain-chains whose peaks tower up to 24,000
feet, mountain plateaus like the Pamir at a height of
15,000 feet, delightful forests and meadows, fruitful well-
watered stretches of agricultural land and bleak sandy
deserts: on the whole the northwest and north consist
of low land, the east and south of fertile land sloping
up towards the mountain chains that fill practically all
South and East Turkistan. The center of these eastern
mountain chains lies in the Tyan-Shan, from which the
different chains branch out due north and northwest,
filling nearly all of Ferghana, and due west into the
Khanat of Bokhara. All these chains slope down rather
abruptly, and lose themselves between the 70th and 65th
meridian in the steppes. The Pamir occupy a position
by themselves: a high plateau between towering moun-
tain chains covered with eternal snow. In the southern
and western parts of Turkistan we have some ranges
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD 37
branching out from the Hindo-Koush, Parapameze,
Kopet-Dagh and from the Caucasian Elbrouss group.
The whole of the Turkistan lowlands, having once been
at the bottom of the sea, some of its parts are found to be
45 feet below the Caspian Sea, which is itself 80 feet
below sea-level. These lowlands are extremely varied in
their aspect: In the Trans-Caspian region and in some
parts of Syr-Darya, Samarkand and Bokhara we have
the dreaded sand-deserts, filled with long ranges of either
fixed or moving sand dunes (barkhans), without springs
or vegetation ; they are called according to their coloring :
Kara-Koum (Black Sands) or Kizil-Koum (Red Sands) ;
next follow the sand steppes, which in spring are covered
with gay flowers, but after May present the picture of
desolation; big areas of lowlands, thanks to some river
or lake, are covered with grass, and serve as pastures
for the nomad Kirghiz. Here begins the fringe
of the fertile land which consists of ''loess" or
organic dust of decayed vegetation, blown down from
the forest-covered hills and deposited mostly along
the river banks; this soil is extraordinarily fertile
and gives crops of astonishing percentage. A$
everywhere, so here, life depends on water, and here even
more so, as the climate is very dry and the rain falls only
during the winter months. Again : the rivers, descending
from high mountains, are very swift and overflow when
the snow thaws, and with the exception of a few, dry up
early in summer and late in autumn. The scarcity of
water is one of the reasons why millions of acres of land
which might be put under cultivation, lie waste. The
lack of a regular and sufficient rainfall and the scarcity
of rivers have from time immemorial forced the
aborigines to resort to artificial irrigation by sluices and
a system of canals called "aryks" : right and left the big
arteries take the water out of the rivers, and leave them
often so much drained that they either disappear in the
sandy plains or in some stagnant lake. Only two rivers
reach the Aral Sea in full flood — the Amou-Darya and
38 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Syr-Darya: they are indeed the feeding mothers of
Turkistan. The Amou-Darya begins on the Pamir
heights, passes through the wild mountain regions of East
Bokhara, where two or three rivers flow into it; then it
flows west and northwest, forming the frontier of the
Khanat of Bokhara with Afghanistan; turning north it
flows through the Province of Syr-Darya, forming at the
same time the eastern limit of the Khanat of Khiva, and
loses itself, broad, muddy and majestic in a large delta,
flowing into the Aral Sea. The Amou-Darya is the only
river in Turkistan on which steamers ply. A military
flotilla, at the service of the public, maintains communi-
cation with the frontier fortresses of Termaze, Kherky
and Kelif near Afghanistan, and with Khiva. The second
large river, the Syr-Darya, has its origin in the mountain
ranges of the Tyan-Shan. It consists of two swift streams
which in Ferghana unite into the Syr-Darya; passing
through the lowlands and steppes of the province of like
name, having served to irrigate about one million acres of
land, the river ends in the Aral Sea.
Another river, the Zaravshan, descends from the moun-
tains of East Bokhara, and after having given life to
350,000 acres of land, in Bokhara as well as in the Prov-
ince of Samarkand, loses itself in a small lake. The
river Tchirtchik irrigates the land around Tashkent. The
rivers Mourg-ab and Tedjen flow down from Afghan-
istan into Turkomania, and are made serviceable by a
number of sluices and aryks. The seas are : the Caspian
Sea which tends to diminish by evaporation; the Aral
Sea, and the lakes of Balkash, Ala-Koul and Issykh-Koul
in the eastern part of Turkistan.
The Climate of Turkistan is one of the driest in the
world: even the great rainfall in the mountains is not
sufficient to give humidity to the air, overheated as it is
by the torrid heat of the endless deserts and sand steppes
over which it passes. More than eight times as much
is evaporated as comes down by rainfall: if it were
not for the belt of glaciers in the east and south, Turkistan
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD 39
would long ago have been transformed into a lifeless
desert. As elsewhere, the continental climate brings with
it a great difference between winter and summer, and day
and night temperature. The dry heat is comparatively
easy to bear, and free perspiration makes sunstrokes of
rare occurrence. The thermometer reaches from 135 to
155 Fahr. and eggs can easily be baked in the sand. The
winds, although mostly from the north, sweep over the
Kara-Koum and Kizil-Koum steppes, and thus get heated
and bring no relief. The famous cloudless blue sky of
Turkistan is due to the fact that the winds absorb the
humidity of the soil, and being warmed, do not form
clouds. We give here some of the records for several of
the larger towns during a period of five years.
Mean Summer Lowest
Temperature Temperature Temperature
Tashkent 57 Fahr. 89 66
Khodjent 55 Fahr. 106 61
Namangan 50 Fahr. 86 54
Osh (3,500 ft. high) 48 Fahr. 95 61
Kazalinsk 41 Fahr. 89 66
The Flora of Turkistan varies greatly according to
the difference of soil, height and climate. We have
the flora of the sand steppes, of the clay steppes, and of
the river-belt: brushwood, poplars, tamarisks; of the
mountain slopes: sub-Alpine and Alpine. The forests
which cover the mountain-slopes up to 9,000 feet consist
of elm, oak, rhododendron, juniper, hazel, almond,
pistachio, wild prune; higher up there are fir trees. The
Pamir have no trees except willows and tamarisks, but
luxuriant pastures where the Kara-Kirghiz feeds his im-
mense flocks. There are numberless flowers, from the
blood-red tulips and anemones which cover the sand
steppes in spring, to the rich sub-Alpine and Alpine flora.
Many species are the same as on the Himalayas. Several
species of flora and fauna which have disappeared else-
where on the face of the earth, have survived in these
mountains.
The Fauna of Turkistan presents also a great variety
40 THE MOSLEM WORLD
due to the difference of altitude and climate: something
like 385 species of birds; insects of all kinds: phalanges,
scorpions, tarantulas, mosquitoes, and also venomous ser-
pents and tortoises. In the brushwood along the river
beds tigers may be found, and also higher up in the moun-
tains; wolves and foxes in the steppes; bears, boars, and
wild hogs; goats and sheep; the yak is found on the
Pamir, as also the wild horse. Camels and donkeys are
most common. Livestock breeding is extensively pursued.
Horses of Arab blood are bred in Turkomania and Bok-
hara.
Minerals abound, but are not mined, as they might
and ought to be, owing to the inertia of the former Rus-
sian Government, and the exclusion of foreign capital.
There are silver, lead, copper and iron ores; auriferous
sand, naptha, coal, salt, etc. Also many mineral springs
are found, but all these riches are badly managed or lie
idle.
The Inhabitants of Turkistan number about ten mil-
lion souls. We have in
Province of Syr-Darya i ,800,000
Province of Ferghana 2,000,000
Province of Samarkand i ,000,000
Province of Semiryetchinsk i ,000,000
Transcaspian Region 500,000
Khanat of Bokhara 2,800,000
Khanat of Khiva 800,000
The proportion of women to men is about 85 to every noo.
The present population may be roughly classed as
aborigines and immigrants, the latter being mostly Rus-
sians — military men, administrators, merchants and
colonists; there are also Armenians, Grousinians
(Georgians), Germans, Esthonians, Russian Jews, a few
Belgians, etc.
Turkistan having been the theatre of so many immi-
grations and conquests for the past 4,000 years, it is evi-
dent that the aborigines themselves present a very mixed
element. Ethnographically the population of Turkistan
represents a mixture of the Indo-Aryan and Turko-
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD 41
Mongol races; the first form the settled element, the
second the nomads. The Oural-Altayans or Turko-
Mongolians are numerically predominant, and form the
following groups — Sart, Ouzbeks, Kirghiz, Turkomans,
Kara-Kolpaky and Tartars. We will now give briefly
the characteristics of each group :
The Sart represent 25 per cent of the whole population ;
their origin is disputed, but this much seems certain that
they come of Turko-Iranian stock and represent the
product of intermarriage between the oldest known
aborigines — the Tadjiks (Iranians) and their conquerors,
the Turko-Mongolian Ouzbeks. The Sart combines the
characteristics of both races. As a rule he lives in the
towns and controls the commerce; he is averse to hard
physical labor, very apt at imitating the modern improved
ways of working; he is a skilful artisan and gardener;
his fields are cleverly terraced, and irrigated according
to centuries of experience in engineering skill. He is
fond of flowers and birds, polite, friendly and open-
minded. The house of the Sart, whether in town or vil-
lage, is made of sun-dried mud bricks, but is kept clean
and comfortable by mats and rugs. The houses of poor
and rich alike have separate quarters for women and
men, for the women are kept strictly '^purdah"; the
women's court has generally some trees and flower-beds,
also some running water, and one is struck by their evi-
dent love for a pretty home. But the curse of polygamy
is strongly felt; the children are passionately loved and
fondled, are gaudily attired and their little caps
decorated with owl-feathers against bad luck.
The Ouzbeks live mostly along the great rivers Amou
and Syr-Darya; they are of pure Turkish stock,
probably from Kashgaria. Having conquered the
aboriginal Tadjiks, the settled Ouzbeks kept the higher
administrative offices of the Khanats of Khiva and Bok-
hara in their hands. The nomad Ouzbeks roam through
the steppes of West Bokhara, Khiva, West Samarkand
and the Syr-Darya District. In character they resemble
42 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the Sart, but are less open and friendly; they are great
lovers of music; their women are secluded.
The Kirghiz is the lord of the steppes, from the Altay
in middle Siberia westward to the Volga in European
Russia. He is of pure Mongolian race, of the Turko-
Tartar branch: flat-faced and with spare beard. He is
a born nomad, and roams with his immense flocks through
the steppes, settling in winter in the lower parts near the
rivers, and spending the summer high up in the moun-
tains; we find him all over Turkistan, and on the Pamir
none but the Kirghiz can make a living. They live in
felt tents called "yourta," and feed mostly on milk prod-
ucts; their women are unveiled, independent, and take a
more prominent part in the life of the family, and of the
tribe. These nomad Kirghiz have of late been subjected
by the Russian laws to a partial expropriation of their
Boundless steppes, which has forced many of them to
settle as agriculturists. They are quick to profit by edu-
cation offered to their children, who make clever students,
and are now to be found in Russian high and professional
schools; quite a number of them are to be found among
officers and administrators. (The Kirghiz are also called
Cossacks.)
The Turkomans are of the Turkish branch of the
Mongolian race, and live exclusively in the Trans-Caspian
region and in Khiva. There is only half a million of
them left, as part of them emigrated to North Afghanistan
and North Persia. They are nomads with a strong dis-
position to robbery, and were in former centuries the
terror of their neighbors in Khiva and in Persia. They
made slave raids into North Persia, and sold their prison-
ers into both the Khanats; so that the thousands of Per-
sians who now live and even hold offices, especially in
Bokhara, are all the descendants of those Persian slaves.
The Turkomans are divided into seven clans which guard
their purity of blood most jealously. After having been
conquered by Russia 35 years ago, they have adopted a
settled way of life. They are famous for breeding horses,
TURKISTAN~A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD 43
and make very fine rugs. They are indifferent Moham-
medans, hospitable but lazy; their women are unveiled.
The Turkomans avail themselves gladly of the means of
education provided by the Russian Government.
The Kara-Kolpaky are believed to be among the
oldest Mongolian settlers of Turkistan. In former times
they lived on the shores of the Syr-Darya, and in the
delta of the Amou, and were the original population of
Khiva; but their robber-neighbors, the Kirghiz, sweep-
ing down upon their well worked fields, forced them to
scatter all over Turkistan. The Kara-Kolpak is a good
laborer, but cannot hold his own against Sart or Tadjik,
whose Aryan blood gives them an undeniable intellectual
superiority.
The Tartars (Nogay), of pure Mongolian origin, are
scattered all over Turkistan as small traders and artisans;
they come mostly from Siberia or the Volga Provinces.
They are shrewd and of few words, and are the most un-
pleasant opponents in a religious discussion because of
their dry, contemptuous fanaticism. Their women are,
as a rule, unveiled, but adopt sometimes the "purdah,"
when living in exclusively Mohammedan surroundings.
Kashgarys are found in Ferghana; in outward ways
they resemble the Sart; their women are unveiled.
There are quite a number of AFGHANS scattered all over
Turkistan, mostly in Bokhara, with which they have a
lively trade in sheep, as also with Turkomania. They
keep to themselves, and somehow do not seem to be ac-
ceptable to the rest of Turkistan citizens, although they
are known to be fanatical Moslems. They consider them-
selves to be of a Semitic race.
The Iranians are represented by the Tadjiks and the
Persians. The Tadjiks are thought to have come from
Iran in pre-historic times, and are therefore reckoned
the real aborigines of Turkistan; they have kept their
Iranian traits in character, outward appearance, and lan-
guage. They had to retire into the mountainous parts of
Turkistan, and specially of Bokhara, before their Turk-
44 THE MOSLEM WORLD
ish conquerors, where they live even now a laborious life
as peasants: knowing to perfection how to make use of
the water, they can produce good crops from the smallest
plot of arable land high up on the mountain slopes and
plateaus. They have great flocks on the mountain pas-
tures. Not only here in the almost inaccessible heights,
but also when settled in towns, the Tadjik leads a life
separate from his Sart or Ouzbek neighbor; this is partly
explained by the fact that all the Tadjiks are Shiites.
The Persians^ as we have said before, are descendants
of former slaves, and live in great numbers in the Trans-
Caspian region, in Khiva and Bokhara, but some of them
are to be found in every town of Turkistan. They have
acquired much wealth through trade. Being Shiites,
they are disliked by their Sunnite neighbors. Their num-
ber has been considerably increased during the last
decades by immigrant Babis, who have their own mosque
at Askhabad.
The Arabs are represented by some 20,000 people, who
claim their descent from those Arabs who in the 7th
century A. D. conquered Turkistan and introduced Islam.
The Bokharian Jews are the descendants of the ten
tribes exiled by the Assyrians, and settled in northern
Persia, from whence they entered Afghanistan and
Turkistan. They were always despised, and had to sub-
mit to all sorts of ignominies, yet by their energy and
spirit of enterprise they have come to be rich, and hold
in their hands nearly all the trade in manufactured and
imported drapery goods. But even now (I speak of 1910
to 1916) they have to wear a special dress, and in Bok-
hara even a cord around their waist as sign of former
bondage. Their women are of exquisite beauty, fine
featured, commanding in stature and hold a place of
honor in the family.
The Indians are cither Mohammedans — rich mer-
chants in silks, tea and spices, who strike one by their
haughty bearing — or Parsees (fire worshippers) held in
general contempt, obliged to dress in a particular way,
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD 45
disfigured by the red flame-like spot between their eye-
brows. We find them in nearly every town of Turkistan,
but mostly in Bokhara, as money-changers and usurers;
they speak the languages of Hindustan.
The Armenians and Georgians are found in good
numbers in the towns as tradesmen, artisans, hotel and
restaurant keepers. They are not liked by the Moham-
medans nor by the Jews and Russians, as they get rich
quickly, thanks to their frugal life and great capacity for
work. They are Gregorians or Lutherans, and their fam-
ily life is exemplary, but with all that most of the houses
of ill-fame are run by Georgians.
The German colonists have settled in the plains near
Tashkent and north of it at Aoulie-Ata, also in the Khanat
of Khiva. Germans are to be found in every town as
merchants or artisans, and in several of the larger cities
they have Lutheran churches. Quite a number of them
are Mennonites, and they all live their quiet and laborious
life separate from their neighbors. European Jews,
mostly of course immigrated from Russia, live in every
town, and are met with at the village bazaars. Here and
there Esthonians (Lutherans) are to be found; and
Belgians, running the few mines or petrol-wells, also
some Frenchmen as merchants or teachers. As far as I
know, only one Englishman was allowed to settle as
teacher and interpreter in Tashkent. Whenever British
or American citizens wanted to cross Turkistan, or to
visit it as tourists, they had to provide a special permit
for a limited number of days only.
The Russians^ the conquerors of Turkistan, number
about 150,000, and represent the military and adminis-
trative element of the country; as such they live mostly
in the towns. About 150 villages have been built by
Russian peasant colonists: these do not work with the
irrigation system, but depend on the rainfall, and are
therefore mostly to be found in the agricultural and sub-
Alpine belts, where the forests guarantee them the neces-
sary climatic conditions. They keep aloof from their
46 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Mohammedan neighbors. In the towns the two elements
come in closer contact, and often establish friendly rela-
tions, although each party harbors a certain contempt for
the other. The new part of every town is called the
"Russian" one; there the military forces, administrative,
educational and religious institutions are centered. The
Mohammedans live by themselves in the old part of the
town, which is called the native part.
The Languages of Turkistan, as might well be ex-
pected, are numerous ; yet one may easily travel all over
the land with one or two of them, and come in touch with
the people. The most common language is the Sart or
Ouzbek-Turkish, which is thought by some to be the
mother of all the other Turkish languages, such as the
Osmanli-Turkish, the Tartar, Kirghiz, Azerbeidjan and
Kashgar. (It is sometimes also called the Yagatay.) In
any case all these peoples understand each other, and can
read each others' books more or less. The other group
takes in the Aryan languages, such as Persian, Tadjik,
Urdu, and Pashtu (Afghan) ; these are more commonly
used in the western part of Turkistan, but Persian, for
instance, is understood all over Turkistan by the Mullahs
and the better-class men. Arabic is taught in the
Madrasses, but hardly any mullah has a real grasp of
the language, except he has been to El-Azhar University,
or elsewhere in the Arabic-speaking East; nevertheless.
Scripture portions in Arabic are bought. With ten lan-
guages for our Turkistan Mohammedans, and three
languages — the Jargon, Hebrew and Persian — in Hebrew
characters for the Jews, three or four Hindustani dialects
for the Parsees, and six to eight languages for the Euro-
peans represented in Turkistan, I myself stocked Scrip-
ture portions in 22 languages in order to meet the needs
of all the "Tongues and Peoples" with which I met dur-
ing my travels. But the chief languages are certainly
the Russian, as used in all governmental institutions and
offices (although there are always interpreters), and the
Sart language as spoken by the natives. Yet as the result
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD 47
of the contact with the Russians and the schools of the
new type, quite a number of Sart, at least in the towns,
can now understand and even speak Russian.
It is the Tadjik in Bokhara who is most difficult to
reach, as he does not understand anything but his dialect,
into which, so far, no portion of Scripture has been trans-
lated; Bokhara, certainly, is waiting more than any other
part of Turkistan for her day of grace and opportunity.
Natural Productive Forces of the Country
The settled inhabitants derive their wealth or simply
their means of living from agriculture and commerce, and
the nomads from cattle breeding. As we have said before,
the soil, consisting of decayed organic matter ^4oess," is
extraordinarily fertile and the experience of the aborig-
ines helps them to make the best use of the water drawn
from the canals or aryks. There are in all about two and
one-half million acres of artificially irrigated soil under
culture, and about one million more are dependent upon
the rainfall. Turkistan occupies the second place in
the world as to the area of agricultural land under artifi-
cial irrigation; only India surpasses her, with more than
twice the irrigated area.
Agriculture. We can only briefly name the chief
products: wheat, rye, rice, barley, millet, sorghum,
Indian-corn, lentils, cotton, many oleagenous plants;
vegetables and fruit of all kinds, apples and apricots are
famous ; grapes are grown in immense quantities, melons
of exceptional sweetness and flavor; fodder of all kinds.
The culture of silk-worms is practiced extensively, and
has been for centuries.
Fisheries exist on the lakes and the two big seas,
mostly in the hands of Russian colonists.
Mining, as mentioned before, is but poorly developed.
Industry is largely of the home or craft type; the
Sarts are known for their work in leather, brass and silver ;
silk and cotton materials, which in former times went to
clothe the whole of the population, but now are giving
4
48 THE MOSLEM WORLD
way to Russian manufactured goods, are woven exten-
sively in Bokhara, Samarkand and Ferghana. The
Kirghiz produce fine felts for saddles and for covering
their tents; rugs and carpets are produced in Bokhara
and Turkomania. The nomads live by the cattle they
breed and their products, namely, milk, and cheese of
different kinds. In winter they depend largely for their
cattle and camels on the grass that may be found under
the snow, as they make no provision for fodder.
The relatively few factories are mostly cotton-cleaning
ones, flour and oil-mills, and (alas!) distilleries.
From time immemorial Turkistan has been of first-
rate importance for trade between Europe and Asia; it
was this fact that attracted many of the peoples who con-
quered her. It was so especially with Russia, which
tried to reach India and China by way of Bokhara. It is
not quite the same to-day, since China and India are more
easily reached by steamer than by caravan. All the
same, a lively trade is carried on with Turkistan and
through her: she exports in great quantities cotton (up
to i5,ooo,cxx) lbs.), millions of pounds of dried fruits,
especially apricots and raisins, also oleagenous products;
Santonine for medical use, etc., etc.
There is one railroad built between 1880 and 1888,
which starts from Krassnovodsk on the Caspian Sea, and
runs due east to the furthest part of Ferghana; a line
branches off north to Tashkent and Orenbourg, uniting
Turkistan with European Russia; lately a southern
branch has been built for military purposes, which unites
the main line (from Bokhara) with Termaze on the
Afghan frontier.
The History of Turkistan
The history of Turkistan is one of exceptional interest,
as this country was from time immemorial the natoral
basin into which poured time and again the hordes of
Mongolian and Aryan invaders, before they continued
their devastating march into India, Baktriana, Iran,
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD 49
Asia Minor, Russia and Europe. We can only give a
bird's-eye view of these happenings. Tradition tells us
that Merv and Balkh — ''the mother of cities" were built
by Adam. History records (Babylonian Tablets?) that
about 2200 B. C. the Assyrians conquered south Turkistan;
about 800 B. C. Pharaoh Sesostris the Great owned it;
when in the 6th century B. C. Cyrus founded the Persian
Empire, Turkistan formed part of it. From that time
on we see the fight between the settled agricultural South
under Iranian influence with the Turanian nomads of
North Turkistan. At the end of the 4th century B. C.
Alexander the Great (Iskander Dhu '1-Karnain) passed
through Turkomania, Baktriana, as far east as Ferghana,
and swerved off south to India. Henceforth the Persian
aborigines, weakened by the Greek invasion, found them-
selves helpless against the Mongolian invaders, and until
the 3rd century A. D. the Parthians and other Turkish
nomad tribes held sway over South Turkistan. At the
end of the 4th century A. D., the Huns destroyed Turkistan
and continued their march through South Russia into
Europe. About 600 A. D. China owned all of Turkistan,
and after that the Persian Dynasty of the Sassanides. In
666 A. D.^ East Persia and all Turkistan as far as Kashgaria
was conquered by the Mohammedan Arabs. This con-
quest was finished in 71 1 A. D.^ and from that time till our
days, even when in about 900 A. D. the Arabs themselves
were driven out of Turkistan into Mesopotamia, Islam
has remained the religion of Turkistan.
The following centuries witnessed a continual warfare
between the Persian settlers and the Turko-Mongolian
invaders; Sultan Seljuk's hordes came and went, and
moved on westward as far as Byzantium; there followed
two centuries of internecine war between Khiva, East
Persia (now Afghanistan), and West Persia (Iran). In
1 21 8 A. D.^ Timoutchine or Djingiz-Khan appears on the
scene; this prince of Mongolian shepherds, after having
conquered and boiled in 70 cauldrons all his relatives,
50 THE MOSLEM WORLD
and become lord of Mongolia, Tartaria and China
(Peking burns a whole month!), turned westwards, and
with his millions of Mongol horsemen brought devasta-
tion over all of Turkistan and Persia, down into India,
where he died in 1226 A. D. In 1333 A. D. was born at
Shakhrizab, from a Turkish Sultan and his Turkish wife,
Timor or Tamerlane, who inherited from his parents a
hatred of the Mongols.
After an adventurous life he was elected in 1369 A. D.
Emperor of all Turkistan: he swept into Russia, over
Iran into India, then back again into Mesopotamia, Syria,
Anatolia; defeated the Emperor Bayazet at Angora, and
returned to Samarkand to die in 1405 A. D. From him
came the great Sultan Babur, whose mother was de-
scended from the Mongolian Djinghiz-Khan, so that in
this exceptionally gifted and great man the lines of both
Tamerlane and Djinghiz-Khan met. Babur's career was
first bound up with Turkistan ; but when in the beginning
of the 1 6th century the Mongolian Ouzbeks appeared for
the first time in Turkistan, Babur was defeated, left the
country to the Ouzbeks, and ended his life as Emperor of
India — "the Great Mogul" in 1530 A. D. From now on,
the Ouzbeks ruled over Turkistan as far as the river
Amou-Darya, which became for a long time the frontier
between the Turanians and the Iranians.
This state of things continued for well-nigh 300 years:
Ouzbek Sultans established themselves in Bokhara and
Khiva, and fought for their thrones against Hindus and
Persians, and also between themselves. At the beginning
of the 1 8th century, Khiva and Bokhara come into con-
tact with Russia, making friendly overtures to the Em-
peror Peter the Great. At that time Russia had already
pushed her dominions southward to the river Oural, but
traffic between her, the Khanats, India and China was
made unsafe or even impossible by the nomad Kirghiz,
whose three "Ordahs" or hordes swarmed over the im-
mense steppes, from the river Volga to the middle of
Siberia, separating Russia from her aim in the south.
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD 51
It was only in the middle of the i8th century, when one
after another these brigand ^^Ordahs" were tamed and
brought into subjection by Russia, that the southward
route seemed free and open for traffic. In Turkistan by
this time a third power had risen besides Khiva and Bok-
hara: the Khan of Ferghana, Khoudoyar-Khan, who
claimed to be and probably was, a descendant of the Great
Babur's son, ruled his people in a spirit unfriendly to
Russia. Towards the middle of the 19th century Russia
realized at last, that in order to keep the way southward
open, the untamable Kirghiz had to be isolated from all
other influence but hers. About this time Russia's south-
ern neighbors had all established themselves firmly: China
had conquered Mongolia, Dzungaria and Kashgar; Great
Britain had taken the rule over India from the East-India
Company; Afghanistan was being united under Dost-
Mohammed, and was open to British influence; Persia
alone was friendly towards Russia. The time had
come for her to lay her mighty hand on the fickle and
treacherous peoples of Central Asia, who for centuries
had stood between her and her natural southern frontier —
the wall of snow-capped mountains north of India and
Afghanistan. And so from 1853 to 1891, Russia con-
quered one by one: the Chinese, west of Mongolia —
now the Province of Semiryetchinsk; the Khanat of
Khokand — now the Provinces of Ferghana and Syr-
Darya; the Khanat of Bokhara — now the Province of
Samarkand and the vassal state of Bokhara; the Khanat
of Khiva — now the vassal state of Khiva ; and the steppes
inhabited by the Turkoman robber-hordes — now the
Trans-Caspian region. About this time the Oases of
Tedjen and Mourg-ab, the frontier post of Koushka, and
in 1 89 1 the Pamir, were taken over from Afghanistan —
Russian Central Asia as we know it now, had at last come
into existence.
Whatever our neighbors might have thought of it, the
peoples of Turkistan themselves quieted down quickly,
and made the best of the peace which for the first time
52 THE MOSLEM WORLD
since they settled here thousands of years ago, spread her
wings over them all, guaranteeing to each one protection,
justice, and the ^'lawful pursuit of happiness." Only one
uprising, instigated by a fanatical Ishan at Andijan, is
recorded; and although the Mohammedans will never
really love their Christian conquerors, yet they cannot
but acknowledge and appreciate the immense difference
between former times and now. The Russians are not
foremost as colonizers, but quite a bit has been done: a
railroad crosses the whole country and facilitates trade;
roads have been laid out; some feeble attempts at mining
have been made. Agriculture has progressed notably
through the opening up of new systems of canals for
irrigation, through importation of grains and plants and
the introduction of machines; the markets for agricul-
tural products have increased in number, and include such
far-away cities as Moscow and Petrograd. Agricultural
and commercial banks have been opened in every town;
the country is dotted with schools and hospitals, of which
we shall say more later on. With all that, and though
making the most of what Russian civilization offers them,
quite a number of better class Mohammedans of Turkistan
dream of Pan-Turanianism.
We cannot pass by without a word the dark side of
Russian conquest and management; drunkenness has
greatly increased, and the law of Mohammed is not strong
enough to keep his followers from the charm of liquors.
Other evils of civilization, alas! have followed this one,
and old people find that the younger generation is less
fervent in its Faith — yet the intervention of the Russian
Government and its influence on the life of its Moham-
medan subjects stops short at Islam itself; bound by
her promise to the native on conquering the land, not to
interfere with his Faith, nor to make or allow Christian
propaganda, nothing has been undertaken by Orthodox
Russian priests or laymen to bring the claims of Jesus
Christ before the Mohammedans of Turkistan.
(To be concluded in April.)
Samarkand, Central Asia. JENNY DE MAYER.
DERVISH ORDERS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
It was a great surprise to me to find in Constantinople
the large number of Tekkes (Tekiyas or Zawiyahs),
which a recent investigation revealed. There are now
according to official information 258 Dervish Houses
in the city. A few years ago there were 319. The great
fires have wiped out 61 Tekkes within a period of ten or
a dozen years.
The following list to date comprises 17 different
Orders:
Former Present number
Name of Order number Tekkes of Tekkes
of Tekkes destroyed (July, 1921)
1. Bairamiyeh 4 2 2
2. Bektashiyeh 8 o 8
3. Bedaviyeh 8 o 8
4. Djelvadiyeh (Hudaiyeh) .22 6 16
5. Djerahiyeh 14 4 10
6. Gulsheniyeh 3 i 2
7. Helvadiyeh 13 9 4
8. Kadriyeh 57 11 5? 42
9. Mevleviyeh 7 o 7
10. Nakshiyeh 65 5 60
11. Rufa'Iyeh 36 7 29
12. Saadiyeh 23 7 16
13. Shabaniyeh 25 O 25
14. Shazaliyeh 3 O 3»
15. Simbaliyeh 23 5 18
16. Sinaniyeh 3 O 3
17. Ushaghiyeh 5 o 5
(Total, 17 Orders) 319 61 258
We have the addresses of each of these establishments.^
The Bektashis, included above, do not appear in the
Imperial Government records, since, as is well known,
they are not considered within the Orthodox ranks of
Islam, and are anathematized by the Ulema.
Besides these official Tekkes, most of which receive
more or less aid from the Turkish Government, there are
iThese will appear in the "Survey of Constantinople" soon to be published by a
committee representing the American Philanthropic, Educational, and Missionary or-
ganizations operating in Constantinople.
53
54 THE MOSLEM WORLD
said to be a considerable number of Dervish Orders
which have Houses, or which meet in private homes, of
which the government takes no official cognizance, or
which receive no financial aid but are supported privately
by members and adherents of the Orders.
It is rather strange that but seventeen Orders appear
in the above list. One would expect to find in the political
capital of Islam a Tekke representing every Dervish
order.
II
Through the courtesy of an honored member of the
Imperial Government Board of Dervishes, the writer
obtained a list of what was said to be all the Dervish
Orders known. This includes the names of i6i Orders
and Sub-Orders.""
This number is incomplete, for the writer has found
the names of sixteen others, which bring the list up to
177. There is considerable difference of opinion among
Dervishes themselves, and also among scholars, as to the
exact number of Orders and Sub-Orders. Canon Sell
quoting Rinn states there are 88.^
D. B. Macdonald gives the number of Orders as 32,
and remarks that there are ^innumerable" Sub-Orders.^
Petit claims there are "several hundred" Orders and
Sub-Qrders in Islam, and it may be true^ The author of
the pamphlet entitled "The Dervish" (himself a Dervish)
claims there are twelve "distinct" Orders, and gives them
as follows:
I.
"The Bedevi
7.
The Nakshi
2.
The BettushI
(Bektashi)
8.
The Rufa'i
3.
The Kadri
9.
The Sadi
4-
The Dussuki
10.
The Salmani
5.
Theldrissi
II.
The Shazali
6.
The Mevlavi
12.
The Sumbuli"
The Salmani
Order mentii
oned as
number 10 in
the list
just given (we are informed
by
the
writer of "Th
le Der-
2The Senussi among others were omitted entirely from this official list.
SReligious Orders of Islam; page 35 (1908). Vide Rinn, "Marabouts et Khouan,"
^^iEncyclopedia Britannica, nth Ed. vide article "Dervishes."
sLa Confrerie Musulmane— R. P. I.. Petit, Paris 1902.
DERVISH ORDERS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
55
vish"), has no definite teaching, nor is it an organized
body of dervishes. "During the performances of re-
ligious ceremonies of other Orders, when the names of
the founders. . .are recited, the name of "Salman the
Pure" is also mentioned." He is considered as patron
saint by Mohammedan barbers, and they "are regarded
as his dervishes."^
No Tekke nor organization of the Senussi has been
found in Constantinople, although diligent inquiries have
been made. The relations of the Senussi dervishes with
the Turkish Government in Asia Minor seem very cor-
dial at present, although they were formerly ttrained
enough. Last spring the Sheikh of the Senussi, on his
way to the Holy cities, telegraphed Mustafa Kemal
congratulating him on his victories over the Greeks.^
This is natural in view of the Pan-Islamic aspirations of
his Order.
The list of 177 Dervish Orders is given herewith.®
Khafriyeh
Khafifiyeh
Khilvitiyeh
(Khilwatiyya)
Khavajagan (?)
Kazrouniyeh
Kasaniyeh
Kayaliyeh
Kubreviyeh
Kumeliyeh
Medadiyeh
Minhajiyeh
Membouliyeh
Mujedtdidiyeh
Mouhasibiyeh
Mahboubiyeh
Medariyeh
Medeniyeh
(Madaniyeh)
Mudayniyeh
Muradiyeh
Meshishiyeh
Musriyeh
Mustariyeh
Muslihriyeh
Mazheriyeh
Melamiyeh
Ahmediyeh
Byumiyeh
Gharibiyeh
Ansariyeh
Djesniyeh
Ghazaliyeh
'Azimiyeh
Djemaliyeh
Ghavsiyeh
'Adiliyeh
Djundiyeh
Gulsheniyeh
'Ashuriyeh
Dedjaniyeh
Ghaysiyeh
Abbasiyeh
Derdiriyeh
Haririyeh
Adjliyeh
Dermirdashiyeh
Haqiyeh
'Arusiyeh
Debiyeh
Hukmiyeh
'Aziziyeh
Djelvetiyeh
Hakimiyeh
'Aliyeh
(Jalwatiyya)
Halabiyeh
'Ashkiyeh
Esaviyeh
Hereviyeh
'Afifiyeh
(Christian
Hilaliyeh
'Akiliyeh
"Jesus"?)
Hamadaniyeh
'Aleviyeh
Edhemiyeh
Hevariyeh
'Amudiyeh
(Adhamiyeh)
Hutjajiyeh
Abdurrussiyeh
Erdebilyeh
Idrisiyeh
Aperiyeh
Essediyeh
Ishakiyeh
Ahrariyeh
Eshrefiyeh
Ibadiyeh
Bahshiyeh
Euveysiyeh
Ilmiyeh
Bedriyeh
(Uwaissiyeh)
Jebriyeh
Bedeviyeh
Ehdiliyeh
Jirahiyeh
Bistamiyeh
Ekbiriyeh
(Djerahiyeh)
Bekhtasiyeh
Ferdevsiyeh
Jesveliyeh
(Baktashiyya)
Futuniyeh
Khalvetiyeh
Bekriyeh
Fatliyeh
Khatriyeh
Behaiyeh
Faydiyeh
Khalidiyeh
Bairamiyeh
Ghaziyeh
Kharaziyeh
6New York, 189s; translated by Dr. Avac Cutujian. This number was confirmed
in a conversation recently with a Rufa'i Sheikh, who stated also that there are 18
Sub-Orders.
TOrient News — Constantinople, May 1921. It seems the Sheikh has been in Turkey
since he was brought from Africa in a German submarine during the war.
sThe writer would be glad to have his attention called to any duplications, omissions
or errors, in this list. He has not yet been able to consult Rinn's list.
56
THE MOSLEM WORLD
Mevleviyeh
(Maulawiyya)
Mihdeviyeh
Mejousiyeh
Nasriyeh
Nussusiyeh
Nuzamiyeh
Nakshbandiyeh
( Nakshbandiyya)
Nurbahshiyeh
Nuriyeh
Nouviyeh
Qalanderiyeh
(Wanderers)
Qadriyeh
(Qadiriyya)
Qasmiyeh
Qarabashiyeh
Qashberiyeh
Qasriyeh
Qatnaniyeh
Rashidiyeh
Reslaniyeh
Rufaiyeh
(Rifaiyya)
Rukniyeh
Ramazaniyeh
Revsheniyeh
Rumiyeh
Seraniyeh
Sutusiyeh
Saadiyeh
Sehaniyeh
Seyariyeh
Senaniyeh
Sinbaliyeh
Sehrverdiyeh
( Suharwardiyeh)
Sehliyeh
Shaziliyeh
Shahalimiyeh
Shernubiyeh
Shatariyeh
Shabaniyeh
Sharaniyeh
Shabiyeh
Shemsiyeh
Sheybaniyeh
Sadberiyeh
Saviyeh
Salabiyeh
Sufhiyeh
Seiyadiyeh
Tajiyeh
Taziyeh
Taghraliyeh
Teyfutiyeh
'Ushakiyeh
Unsiyeh
Yafeiyeh
Yesefiyeh
\ emeniyeh
Yunisiyeh
Zahidiyeh
Zurnkiyeh
Zehriyeh
Zeliveh
Zainiyeh
In addition to the above list furnished by a member of the Board
of Dervishes, I would include the following:
Alwaniyeh Dousukiyeh
Amirghaniyeh Darqawiyeh
Bakayiyeh Hansaliyeh
Chishtiyeh Karzaziyeh
Rahmaniyeh
Siddiquiyeh
Shadhiliyeh
Shaikhiyieh
Sennussiyeh
Salmaniyeh
Tijaniyeh
Taibiyieh
III
During the war a manual of instructions and regula-
tions was published by the Ottoman Government for the
use of government officers and the Dervish Orders. A
summary of the important points in this pamphlet may
be of interest.
There is a Board of seven Dervishes called the Mejlis
al Meshaiye, appointed by the Sheikh of Islam, which sits
in Constantinople daily, except on Fridays and holidays,
and has the supervision and control of all Dervish Orders
and all official Dervish Tekkes in the Ottoman Empire.
In the Provinces there are similar Boards having the
same functions, except that they are subject to the Board
in Constantinople. These Provincial Boards are called
Enjamin Mejliss. The duties and powers of these Boards
are described in the manual of Rules and Regulations
published in A. H. 1334 (A. D. 1918).
The Board has a president and two secretaries. There
is also a sub-committee of three inspectors. This Board
is appointed by the Sheikh of Islam on the approval of
H. M. The Sultan. The duties of the inspectors are to
visit the Tekkes, to see that government regulations
are kept, and to investigate reports of infringements.
DERVISH ORDERS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 57
The members of the Board receive salaries from the
Turkish Government. The President's salary was fifty
Turkish liras per month; and the other members, twenty
liras per month, before the war. This has now been
considerably modified and food allowances also made.
To assist this Board, a committee of three in each
Tekke district has been appointed. This committee con-
sists of the Sheikh of the Central Tekke, of which there
is one in each district; and one dervish from each of
two other Tekkes in the same district. Such committees
have the direct oversight of all Tekkes in their own
districts.
The functions of the Central Board and Provincial
Boards are in detail as follows :
1. The appointment of new sheikhs as heads of the
Tekkes, after due examination as to the fitness of the can-
didates for office. When an appointment is made, the
name of the new Sheikh must be reported to the Ministry
of Evkaf (Pious Foundations or Endowments) for finan-
cial reasons, e. g. the payment of the Sheikh's monthly
stipend; his grant of food; the collection of rents from
any part of the Tekke property which may be let to
others (such as a room, office or shop), since the Tekke
is Dervish property administered by the government for
the benefit of the Order.
2. To fix the rank of each Tekke in its district, e. g.
The Central Tekke.
3. To exercise control over Endowment Funds.
4. To keep Tekke records. (Evidently membership
statistics are not included.)
5. Publicity and Propaganda.
Three members of the Board are appointed to publish
articles on Sufiism, or the peculiar mystical beliefs of
Dervishdom and on the religion of Islam. Formerly
there was a Dervish periodical published by the Board
called ^'Sufieh," but it has now been discontinued. A
monthly periodical called ^'Jerideh al Miyeh" is pub-
lished by the Turkish Government's Ministry of Religion
^% THE MOSLEM WORLD
(under the Sheikh of Islam) which frequently contains
articles of interest to the Dervish Orders and their affairs.
These articles are contributed by members of The Board
of Dervishes (Mejlis al Meshaiye).
6. Discipline. There are official Tekkes and private
Tekkes. The Board has entire control over all official
Tekkes and their members, can remove a Sheikh for
cause, and discipline any member. This is evidently
exercised very rarely indeed, and the official Orders are
practically free, except in financial control, unless excesses
in practice are brought to the government's notice.
7. Private Tekkes. The Board of Dervishes has no
control over private Tekkes; save over the rites and
ceremonies conducted therein (to guard against excesses
or irregularities).
Private Tekkes are self-supporting and receive no gov-
ernment aid. The members of private Tekkes choose and
support their own Sheikhs and meeting places. They
oiten meet in private houses.
All private Tekkes (or organizations) must report
when organized to the Board of Dervishes regarding their
organization, ceremonies and practices. Also they must
give assurances that their faith and practice accord with
the tenets of Islam.
8. Hygiene. Sanitary regulations exist for the proper
cleanliness and ventilation of all Tekkes; and for the
prevention of infectious and contagious diseases. Some
of the Tekkes visited by the writer left much to be desired
in respect of cleanliness and good ventilation; while some
others were very clean. Hygienic regulations were intro-
duced by the late Government of the 'Tarty of Union
and Progress" during the war, so they are very recent.
IV
An earnest effort was made to obtain membership
statistics, but without success. It developed that some local
Orders keep careful lists of members, while others do not.
The Board of Dervishes claims to have no record of the
DERVISH ORDERS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 59
number of members of the official Tekkes; nor does it
have a record of private Tekkes. Of course it should
have knowledge of the new organizations when reported,
but not necessarily a record of memberships. Old private
tekkes may not be registered at all. Only a strict official
government census can obtain this information; and even
then it would hardly be accurate unless the Tekke records
were examined, showing the names of all members and
adherents.
So far as can be learned, all official Tekkes perform
their ceremonies once a week, and these are usually
crowded with devoted worshippers. No fixed day is
chosen for all orders, but each chooses the day and hour
to suit its membership and clientele. Some meet in the
afternoon, and others at night. In Constantinople one
can attend dervish ceremonies every day in the week.
Out of 250 official Tekkes in Constantinople (exclud-
ing the eight Bektashi Houses) the following figures show
the days the Dervish Orders meet:
33 meet on Sundays
25 meet on Mondays
17 meet on Tuesdays
25 meet on Wednesdays
76 meet on Thursdays
52 meet on Fridays
22 meet on Saturdays
Total 250 hold meetings every week.
The Bektashis are said to meet irregularly (i. e. on call)
for their ceremonies.
The performances of the Tekkes visited by the writer
have all been well attended, showing much popular inter-
est and sympathy, especially from the common people and
some from the middle classes. Our data are not complete
enough to give reliable attendance statistics for many
Tekkes in Constantinople.
The cause of popular interest in dervish ceremonies
and mysteries is no doubt due to the deep seated dissatis-
faction of many Moslem worshippers with the ordinary
forms of their religion. The discussion of the philosophy
6o THE MOSLEM WORLD
of Sufiism has no place in this paper. But several con-
versations with Dervish Sheikhs in Constantinople
Tekkes confirm the previous conclusions of eminent
scholars, viz., that the Dervishes themselves believe they
are able to penetrate divine mysteries and to come into
communion or attain union v^ith God through their sys-
tem and ceremonies, which experience it is impossible
otherwise for the ordinary worshipper ever to have.
One prominent Sheikh told the writer that he divides
the people of all religions into:
1. The Common People, or the Ignorant.
2. The Select People, or the Educated or Learned.
3. The Elite, or Enlightened or Illumined (* 'Gnostics").
He stated that only the latter ever know God or attain
to divine knowledge and thus get complete satisfaction
in life. At any rate the Dervishes teach this, and many
Mohammedans believe it.
It is not at all probable that the private Tekkes are as
numerous as the official Tekkes. Estimating then 300
Tekkes in Constantinople with an average weekly attend-
ance of fifty (50), which does not seem unreasonable, we
get a monthly attendance of sixty thousand (60,000)
persons or seven hundred and twenty thousand (720,000)
per year. It is safe to say that many thousands attend
these ceremonies annually in Constantinople alone, which
certainly indicates that they exert a very wide influence
in this city. On the whole, the writer thinks that these
may be a liberalizing influence, and much broader than
that affecting the ordinary worshipper through Orthodox
channels. This makes the minds of such devotees more
open to new religious ideas. ^ Dervish influence would
naturally be much greater if it affected more of the mid-
dle and upper classes of society;^" and a larger number of
different individuals, at least in Constantinople.
There are of course regions such as North Africa and
«0f course Orders such as the Senussi are exceptions.
lOThe Mevlevis have exerted considerable influence on the Turkish government in
the past through their Head, the "Tchelibi" in Konia, who ordinarily girds the sword
of Osman on the new Sultan when he ascends the throne. The Sheikh of the Senussi,
however, performed this service for the present Sultan. Formerly the Bektashis were
very influential at court through the Janissaries, until 1826.
DERVISH ORDERS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 6i
Arabia where practically the entire Moslem population
comes under the influence of the Orders or Brotherhoods
like the Senussi."
Once obtain the acceptance of any religious doctrines
as divine truth from other than Koranic sources, and the
minds and hearts of the Moslem world will begin to be
open to Christ's teaching. If only the Sheikhs can be
persuaded to study the Scriptures, the light will break
through. Recently the writer offered a prominent Sheikh
of the Mevlevi Order a copy of the New Testament in
Turkish. He gladly accepted it, said he would read it
carefully, and suggested he would be glad to get one in
Persian also. Another Sheikh (a Rufa4) refused a copy
very courteously, with the statement that he had read it.
While it was true in the early history of Christianity
that the movement spread from the "lower" to the
"higher" layers of society (and this has been true also
in the modern history of Christian Missions), yet leaders
like Paul were raised up to blaze the way. May it not
be that such leaders for the spiritual conquest of Islam
can be won from among these Dervish Sheikhs whose
tremendous enthusiasm for the faith of the Meccan
prophet, and for the founders of their Orders, and whose
enormous influence among their followers (and it is hard
to over-estimate it), might be devoted to the cause of
advancing Christ's Kingdom in the world.
Samuel Anderson.
Robert College, Constantinople.
iiThe Akhwan of Arabia, however, are not dervishes, cf. Harrison: Missionary
Review, July 1920, page 599.
MEDICAL MISSIONS IN YEMEN
It is nearly three thousand years since Homer said : —
"The man of medicine can in worth with many a warrior vie,
Who knows no weapons to exercise and soothing salves supply."
I venture to assert that most mission workers in Moslem
lands would hasten to fully approve the "Blind Bard's"
way of phrasing a great truth. For most of the doors
that have been open to the Gospel in Moslem countries
and in Moslem homes have been unlocked through the
medico's skill.
Certainly, in Arabia, no other servant of Christ has
been more welcomed than the physician or the surgeon,
though it may be that, like the deaf adder, the Arabs do,
at first stop their ears to the Gospel and refuse to listen
to the charmer, charming never so wisely.
Of course, the reason for physicians being welcomed is
not far to seek, but I feel absolutely certain that even a
display of the most wonderful skill would never have
passed muster as a valid reason for the doctor's acceptance
as an honored guest in a Moslem home had not Harith
bin Kaldah, Mohammed's friend and trusted adviser, been
a Christian physician. Up to the present day the strictest
teachers of the Islamic code are bound to confess that the
faithful may lawfully follow their great leader's example
in consulting and carrying out the directions of a Chris-
tian doctor. The Caliph Mansur, in the heyday of
Moslem vigor, was both treated and cured of a serious
disease by a Christian physician, who so earned the
Caliph's gratitude that he not only gave him a present of
three thousand dinars and three beautiful female Cir-
cassian slaves, but also made him principal of the newly
founded medical school at Bagdad.
It is, however, more than likely that the latter honor
would never have been conferred on him had not his high
62
MEDICAL MISSIONS IN YEMEN 63
moral tone and strictly Christian character appealed to
the Caliph's sense of fitness. I believe that it was not
until Georgius Bakhtishua had returned the three beau-
tiful slaves, saying that it was not lawful for Christians
to have more than one wife, that the Caliph selected him
as the one man who was fit to be principal of his high
medical school. At any rate the doctor continued to hold
that high office until old age and sickness overtook him.
For more than three hundred years the Bakhtishua family
retained their religion, and continued to teach in the
Medical College, as well as to be the most renowned phy-
sicians in Bagdad.
Other causes at work in South Arabia have also helped a
medical man among Moslems. Just about the time of the
Hejira there was a large and flourishing school of medicine
in Sanaa, the capital of the Yemen, and as it is generally
supposed that the principal of that school not only studied
in India, but was himself a Christian, one can understand
how it is that in Somaliland surgical operations that would
never be attempted in any other Moslem country are still
performed by the natives. Crosses are also found at the
head and foot of many old graves, showing that, though
excluded from South Arabia on account of their faith,
yet these old Yemenites gloried in the Cross of Christ.
They continued to glory in it until ^^the sons of God saw
that the daughters of men were fair," and the mixed
marriage did what persecution could not effect.
It would scarcely be honest, however, if one did not
acknowledge the great debt, which the medical profes-
sion as a whole, and medical missionaries in particular^
indirectly owe to Bishop Nestorius. It was wholly due
to the persecution which arose out of the Nestorian heresy
that very many clever and good men turned their attention
to medicine, and there can be no doubt about it that the
Landispur school would never have had an existence had
not the Nestorians.been forced to flee from Odessa, and
to carry with them into their new home that spirit of
research and of independence which could no longer find
s
64 THE MOSLEM WORLD
a place of rest in a nominally Christian land. All know
that it was at Landispur that a license to practice medicine
was first granted, and those parchments given which dif-
ferentiated the regular practitioner from the quacks and
mountebanks, who were even more plentiful in those days
than they are now. Moreover it was the teachers of this
school who first showed the difference between pharma-
ceutics and therapeutics, thus clearing the way for a more
scientific search.
Still it must be confessed that, though those Christian
physicians were chosen to be a light, a leaven and a salt
to the world with which they came into contact, they
did not rise to the high calling whereunto they had been
called. And not until the i6th and 17th centuries do we
find the Jesuit missionaries using medicine as an adjunct
to their work. It is from them that we got our knowledge
of cinchona, ipecacuanha and many other drugs.
The 19th century had dawned, however, before Prot-
estant missionary workers thought of medical skill being
employed. Then Dr. John Thomas was sent out to help
Carey; Krishna Pal, the village carpenter, was brought
into Christ's Kingdom through the medical man's instru-
mentality, and the holy fire began to spread in Bengal,
which no human means could ever put out.
In the year 1822, the need for medical missionary work
was urged by Doctor Douglas of Cavers. In 1840 Dr.
David Livingstone was sent out to Africa, and ever since
the medical missionary's skill has been used in difficult
fields, for it became increasingly plain that he could go
and be welcomed where any other would only meet
opposition.
Ion Keith Falconer knew this, and planned his mission
in South Arabia on medical lines, as it became increas-
ingly plain that necessity would draw even bigoted Mos-
lems to the doctor, to whom many opportunities of speak-
ing a good word for Jesus would be given, that would be
denied to other earnest evangelists. Events have justified
Keith Falconer's plan of action, as a visit to the doctor's
MEDICAL MISSIONS IN YEMEN 65
morning clinique in any one of the Arabian mission sta-
tions will show.
The present doctor in Sheikh Othman is working alone,
and therefore can see only a limited number of patients.
He hopes, however, that when the hospital is fully
equipped with nurses, and things come back to their pre-
war condition, huge crowds will once more be treated in
the hospital, and on their sick beds will hear the story of
the great Physician's power to heal both mind and body
by purifying the soul.
Every morning at 7:30 o'clock there is an audience
numbering from 100 to 200 gathered together to hear the
Gospel story before the morning clinique. On the preach-
er's left there may be 40 or 50 women and young children
who have come for treatment. These, hidden from the
male congregation, hear the wonderful words of Life,
and it will always be a pleasure to think that the first
convert led to Christ by the writer in Arabia, like St.
Paul's first convert in Europe, was a woman.
Many in the audience come long distances, some more
than a thousand miles, carrying letters with them from old
patients who have been healed in the hospital, telling of
their welfare, and praying for a blessing on the mission.
One who had been healed in body and cleansed in soul
sent a donation of Rs 300 (nearly $100) when he heard
how the Tiirks had destroyed the hospital, and he prayed
that others also might be brought into the light in the
house of healing.
After the preaching service is over, the Rev. James
Robson, who has now joined the mission, goes among the
people and sells Scripture portions, which are carried
^ far into the interior. We pray and believe that the en-
trance of God's Word will give light, and that Arabia will
ultimately be won for Jesus Christ.
John C. Young.
Aden, Arabia,
WHAT TO PREACH TO MOSLEMS
What is said in this paper is based on experience rather
than theory. Experience doubtless forms a basis for the
conduct of the individual. But the experience of one may
have little value in shaping the conduct of another. The
personal characteristics of the individual are a very im-
portant factor in the success or failure of any missionary
in preaching to Moslems. The methods of one, if closely
followed by another, may lead to failure. Different
methods might lead to success. Parrot-work in preach-
ing the Gospel to Moslems is dangerous. I have been
asked, 'What is the first thing you do on entering a vil-
lage? Do you immediately begin religious conversation?
What is the first thing you say on approaching a Moslem
with the Gospel? Just how do you act and talk?" Not
all men have natural adaptability for preaching to Mos-
lems. The personality of the individual is so important
a factor that each preacher to Moslems will succeed or
fail, to a very large extent, by being perfectly natural.
If he succeeds, it will be by being himself, and by shaping
his conduct in accordance with the guidance of the Spirit,
and by being able to turn to advantage the circumstances
of the moment, rather than by imitating some other man's
experience, or following too closely some other man's
theories.
I have learned some lessons by observation and ex-
perience which are useful to me, and I pass them on for
what they are worth.
Avoid argument, controversy, and disparaging refer-
ences to Mohammed, the Koran, and Islam. If reference
must be made to the things of Islam, speak of that which
is good. Islam is a half truth, and therefore the most
difficult religion in the world to combat. But give the
devil his due. Never display heat or temper. Never
say things simply because they cut. All these things are
66
MEDICAL MISSIONS IN YEMEN 67
suited more to repel the Moslem than to attract him.
Avoid argument with individual professed fanatics.
Little if any good is accomplished by meeting them. Sel-
dom answer or discuss questions that are asked while
preaching. Sometimes they can be answered by a snap-
shot, but usually, if they must be noticed, invite the ques-
tioner to a private interview. Preserve a dignity that is
born of the consciousness that we are preaching the truth.
Always try to leave the pulpit or bazaar in such a way
that you can return without embarrassment, so far as
anything you have said or done is concerned. When peo-
ple curse you, say 'Thank you" or ''God bless you." I
know a colporteur who was canvassing a bazaar in a
good sized town, when one shopkeeper called out to
another, "There comes the old book-seller your brother.
Buy a book from him." The colporteur replied, 'T may
become a dog, but I never will become your brother." He
never sold that man a book. I know a missionary, who
in some respects is a very able man. His favorite method
of presenting the Gospel to Moslems is by controversial
argument. When one of his meetings was finished, the
Moslems went away very angry, and one of them was
heard to say, "That man has the religion of a beast." I
have never heard of that missionary as being the instru-
ment of leading one Moslem to Christ.
There are two general methods of presenting Christ to
Moslems, viz., the destructive, and the constructive. By
the destructive, I mean setting forth Mohammed, the
Koran, and Islam in a disparaging light; saying things
about their shortcomings and fallacies which may be per-
fectly true, but which are unwise to say. By the con-
structive, I mean presenting Christ and His glorious
Gospel in such a way as to attract Moslems. When the
purity and beauty of Christ's life, the sublime truth of
His teachings, -His infinite, eternal, and holy love, and
His divine power to save the souls of sinners from spiritual
death, are affectionately set forth in the power of the Holy
Ghost, the fallacies of Islam will take care of themselves,
68 THE MOSLEM WORLD
and the Gospel will appeal to the hearts of Moham-
medans. We are out to win men, not to repel them.
Preach sympathetically. Regard Moslems simply as lost
sinners, whom God loves, and for whom Christ died, and
preach accordingly.
Preach on a level which hearers can understand. This
does not mean regarding all the people in every group of
listeners as uneducated men who can never think for
themselves, and therefore talking baby-talk to them. In
almost every crowd of men there will be one or more
above the average in intellect and education. The skilful
preacher will gain that man's ear while causing the less
intellectual and educated to understand. The average
missionary is incapable of quoting effectively Arabic pas-
sages from the Koran or passages from the poets and from
Persian literature, and such quotations should be used
cautiously. But many good quotations and illustrations
can be drawn from Moslem life and thought, and put into
such form as to convince and attract. Draw many illus-
trations from the Bible. Do not try to display scholar-
ship or high attainments in the Persian language. If
manuscript sermons are used, it should be very rarely, and
then only on formal and stated occasions. Remember it
is your business to make as many as possible of your hear-
ers clearly understand what you are trying to say. Make
thorough preparation, and then preach offhand with
nothing more than notes. Extemporaneous, but not im-
promptu, preaching is the best method. Keep a few of
your best sermons always on tap for emergencies. Repeat
them often enough so that you can preach them in the
midst of confusion. Theoretically, at least, every clergy-
man has been trained in homiletics and in presenting the
Gospel message, and the general principles of good semi-
nary training, modified in their outward form so as to
meet the needs of the Moslems, hold good.
In Persia, preaching to Moslems includes pulpit work,
itinerating, bazaar preaching, and social intercourse.
Live with the people. Eat, drink, and sleep in their
WHAT TO PREACH TO MOSLEMS 69
houses. Learn not to be annoyed by vermin. Go to their
shops. Get acquainted with their methods of thought,
their life, their difficulties. Learn to observe from their
point of view. Never hold the Book behind your back
while preaching. Never drop it, or toss it carelessly on
to the table or carpet. Manifest a holy reverence for the
Book. Emphasize without argument that the whole Bible
is the Word of God. Emphasize Bible reading for all
who can read, or who can get someone to read to them.
Emphasize God's love manifested in Christ. Islam glar-
ingly lacks the fervor of God's love. It is our great
drawing card. Preach the simple doctrines of God's
love, justice and mercy. Preach the virgin birth, the
Trinity, the crucifixion, the atonement, the resurrection,
the ascension, the second coming, the day of judgment,
heaven, hell, God's foreknowledge, and man's free will.
Preach Christ, the only and sufficient Saviour. Preach
salvation through the atonement of Christ by means of
repentance, faith, and obedience to His teachings.
The following are some of the texts I have preached
on in Meshed during the past year:
Col. 3:2, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."
Heb. 11:8, "By faith Abraham, when he was called obeyed."
Matt. 7: 13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate."
Jno. 16:8, "He will reprove the world of sin."
Matt. 7:21, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which
is in heaven."
Jno. 1 : 29, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world."
Isa. 57 : 21, "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."
Jno. 3:7, "Ye must be born again." (four times.)
Jno. 6:48, "I am that bread of life."
Lk. 9 : 56, "The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to
save them."
Rom. 3 : 20, "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified."
Gal. 3 : 13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law."
I Tim. I : i, "Jesus Christ, which is our hope."
Matt. 16 : 26, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and
lose his own soul?"
I Tim. 1 : 15, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
The primary object of Christian missions is to spread
the Gospel of salvation for sinners through the atonement
of Jesus Christ. Medical, educational, literary, and all
other forms of missionary work which are not direct
70 THE MOSLEM WORLD
preaching, should aim specifically at this objective, or
else they should have no place in mission organization.
Every missionary is in a very specific and definite sense a
preacher of salvation through Christ. Repeatedly during
the past year, I have preached to people on a Sunday who
were dead before the next Sunday. In every congrega-
tion or group of listeners there are likely to be some to
whom we shall never again have the opportunity of
preaching the name of Christ. We are dealing with the
eternal destiny of immortal souls.
L. E. ESSELSTYN.*
Late of Resht, Persia.
•Since this article was written, Doctor EJsselstyn has passed away.
DID JESUS FORETELL AHMED?
Origin of the so-called Propheq^ of Jesus concerning the
coming of Mohammed.
^'And when Jesus the son of Mary said, O children of
Israel, verily I am the apostle of God sent unto you, con-
firming the law which was delivered before me, and
bringing good tidings of an apostle who shall come after
me, and whose name shall be Ahmed." Suratu 's-Saff.
The commentators on this verse bring forward the
words of Jesus concerning the Paraclete as being the
prophecy referred to in the Koran.
Two things are, however, to be kept distinct — (i) the
proofs sought after by those who came after Mohammed,
to justify and to authenticate his mission, of which we
may say that all was grist that came to their mill; and
(2) the idea which Mohammed himself had in bringing
forth this supposed prophecy, for it must have been either
a pure invention without the slightest foundation, or he
must have heard of some supposed words of Jesus, which
formed the basis of this so-called prophecy about him-
self.
He may have heard in some way or other about the
words of Jesus referring to the Paraclete, and some one
may have been ingenious enough to suggest, as do the
commentators, that Paracletos is corrupted from Peri-
clutos, illustrious, of which Ahmad might be considered
a translation.
Neander says in his ^^Church History," — "Before the
time of Mohammed, Mani gave himself out to be the
Paraclete promised by Christ. Hereby he in no wise
understood the Holy Ghost, but a human person, an en-
lightened teacher promised by Christ, who was further
to develop the religion revealed by him, in agreement
with his Spirit, and purifying it from the corruptions of
71
72 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Ahriman, especially from those which had sprung from
its combination with Judaism."
But is there no other passage in the Gospels, which
Mohammed may have heard read and translated into
Arabic, and which with a little adaptation may have
given him the idea of a prophecy referring to himself?
It is true that ''as early as the eighth century we find
Mohammedan scholars quoting various passages of the
New Testament, particularly the saying regarding the
Paraclete in John's Gospel, which they understood of
Mohammed. He himself, however, knew the Gospel
narrative from oral tradition only." (Nestle, Textual
Criticism of the Greek Testament.)
No doubt Mohammed supposed, as do the Moslems
today, that the Gospel, after the manner of the Koran,
contains the words of God given by the mouth of Jesus.
No other would be the speaker in the Gospel but Jesus
as the mouthpiece of God, unless Jesus himself referred
to the words of a former prophet, as Mohammed is sup-
posed to do here.
If then Mohammed heard read in Arabic, or trans-
lated into Arabic, the following testimony of John the
Baptist concerning Jesus, as found in the Gospels, he may
have considered them to be the words of Jesus, and have
readily interpreted them as referring to himself.
Matt. 3:11. "He that cometh after me is mightier
than I." Wa Idkini ^lladhi yatt bafdl huwa aqwd minnu
Mark i : 7. ''And he preached, saying, There cometh
after me he that is mightier than I." Wa kdna yakrizu
qd'ilan ya'tt bafdl man huwa aqwd minnt,
Luke 3: 16. "There cometh he that is mightier than
I." Wa Idkin yati man huwa aqwd minnt.
John 1 : 26. "In the midst of you standeth one whom
ye know not, even he that cometh after me." Wa Idkin ft
wasatikum qaimuni 'lladhi lastum tarifunahu huwa
'lladhi ya'tt ba^di.
John 1 : 30. "This is he of whom I said, After me
DID JESUS FORETELL AHEAD? 73
Cometh a man which is before me; for he was before
me." Hddhd huwa ^lladht qultu ^anhu ya^tt ba^dt rajulun
sdra qudddmi liannahu kdna qabll.
If to these verses we add the words of John the Baptist,
in which he speaks of the coming one as greater and more
glorious than himself in every respect, so that he is not
worthy even to stoop down and unloose his sandals, we
certainly get the idea, if not the word, of one who was
Ahmad, more worthy of praise, honor or glory than him-
self.
The chief reason that has led me to ask whether we
have not here the ultimate origin of the Koranic verse
is the fact that the very words ya'ti badl,ox^ which is the
same thing, yati min bafdi, are employed here, as in the
Koran; and further that they are followed by a com-
parative aqwd minni, ^^mightier than I," — Greek
loxvporepos. Mohammcd may have heard it translated
amjad, ahmad or afdal, or some term which would sug-
gest to him the comparative form Ahmad, which might
be taken as his name.
If he heard these words read, or if they or their equiva-
lent were reported to him, he would most likely have con-
sidered them to be words pronounced by Jesus, and he
had imagination and ingenuity enough to adapt them and
interpret them as referring to himself. The Koranic
verse would be the result of putting the supposed proph-
ecy into the '^perspicuous Arabic tongue."
If he did not mistake the speaker of the words, it may
still be possible that the words of John referring to Jesus
were deliberately copied and put into the mouth of Jesus
as referring to Mohammed. In either case there is a pos-
sibility that the words under consideration are the ulti-
mate foundation of the supposed prophecy.
There is no Koranic reference to the special ministry
of John the Baptist beyond that contained in the announce-
ment of the angels to Zachariah — ''And the angels called
to him while he stood praying in the sanctuary, saying,
74 THE MOSLEM WORLD
^Verily God promiseth thee a son named John, who shall
bear witness to the Word which cometh from God.' "
As to the question of Arabic versions of the New Testa-
ment, Nestle refers to F. C. Burkitt in Hastings' Bible
Dictionary, i. 136-138. Burkitt thinks that the oldest
monument of Arabic Christianity is the manuscript for-
merly belonging to the convent of Mar Saba, now known
as Cod. Vac. Arab. 13, and numbered loi in Ti Gr. which
is generally assigned to the eighth century. It originally
contained the Psalter, Gospels, Acts and Epistles, and is
derived from the Syriac. Fragments of Matthew, Mark
and Luke, and of the Pauline Epistles are all that now
remain. (Nestle: Textual Criticism of the Greek N. T.,
p. 143.) This oldest monument of Arabic Christianity
may have had direct ancestors leading back to the time of
Mohammed. At any rate he may have heard one of these
verses read and translated from Syriac into Arabic. The
nearest approach to the Koranic verse is that in Mark's
Gospel —
(Gospel)
wa kdna yakrizu qailan yatl badi man huiva aqwd minni
(Koran)
mubashshiran bi rasulin yatl mm ba'dt 'smuhu Ahmadu
I make this suggestion as the possible ultimate origin
of the Koranic verse, and should like to see if any further
light can be thrown upon the subject by the exercise of
critical acumen and fuller knowledge than mine.*
Percy Smith.
Constantine, Algeria.
•Dr. Duncan B. Macdonald, of Hartford Theological Seminary, writes me in
regard to my suggested solution of this question: "Your point cannot, I fear, be proven,
but it is I think highly probable. I have nothing here to consult, Syriac version or
otherwise, and I doubt if much light would be found there, for I think it is almost
certain that the Syrian-Arabian Church used the system of oral translation in its
services, that is, the early stage of 'targums.'
"As to your questions: (i) There is no evidence that Mohammed was ever called
Ahmed; as names, the two words are quite distinct. (2) I have no doubt that the
Quranic passage you quote refers to a real or supposed passage in Scripture. (3) I
have no doubt that Mohammed had often been present at Christian services and had
picked up and stored away in his memory recollections, often queerly distorted, of what
he heard or supposed he heard. These came to the surface later in his automatic,
semi-automatic, and quite conscious utterances.
"As to the connection of your passage with the Paraclete passages in John, remember
that the Periclytos suggestion is due to Father Marracci, and reached the Mohammedan
world only through Sale's version. I have no doubt that your view of Mohammed's
idea of the Injil is correct. He would think of it all as divine utterances through 'Isa' —
juist like the Quran. And that is the attitude of Islam after him. It holds that our
gospels are parallel to the traditions." P. Smith.
CURRENT TOPICS
A Fetwa Against Bolshevism
*'In view of the possibility of a keen Bolshevist propaganda being
introduced into Egypt," says the Egyptian Gazette, it w^ould be useful
if the Government followed the example of the authorities in India,
who had the Fetwa of the Sheikh el-Islam against Bolshevism printed
and published it throughout India, with the result that the Moslem
population was greatly impressed. Bolshevism has for some time past
been insidiously propagated there, and the effects of the Fetwa were
found most satisfactory in impressing the followers of Islam with the
noxiousness of the new doctrines. The Fetwa reads as follows : —
"Bolshevism is at present engaging the attention of those who control
the destinies of nations. It is the duty of Islam, which directs a great
portion of humanity, and reflects their sentiment, to proclaim its
attitude to all Mohammedans, and to the world in general. Whatever
may be the basic principles of Bolshevism, the fact that their applica-
tion is harmful to humanity, to social life, and to the rights of individual
property makes it quite impossible to reconcile them with the principles
of Islam.
"Since the birth of Islam until now attacks upon life and property,
theft, massacres, pillage and rape have always been condemned, and
our sacred literature not only condemns but imposes penal sentences for
such acts. Islam requires general progress, tranquillity, and happiness.
It, therefore, forbids the taking of the life and the property of others,
and ensures most emphatically the rights of property of individuals and
communities.
"Consequently Islam rules that each individual has a complete right
to bequeath his property, during his lifetime or after his death. Islam
being unable to tolerate the spendthrift, and w^ith a view to preventing
the spendthrift from squandering his riches to the detriment of those
who are left destitute, requires that the fortune be divided partly among
the relatives and partly among the poor. It is to the interest of Islam
that all its strength and influence should be concentrated to oppose the
Bolshevists as a danger threatening civilization, justice, and right."
Mohammedanism in the West Indies and Trinidad
Mr. Thaddeus Neff writes from San Fernando, Trinidad: "It is
difficult to ascertain the exact number of adherents to the Mohammedan
faith in the West Indies. It is, however, known with certainty that
they num.ber up into the thousands and are gradually on the increase.
Few followers are gained here through teaching the doctrines of the
Koran, but practically all the offspring of Mohammedan families are
taught and confirmed in their faith.
"Most of the Mohammedans in the West Indies and British Guiana
emigrated from India, or else were born of Mohammedan parentage.
"Almost every community of a score or more of Moslems has a
75
76 THE MOSLEM WORLD
mosque, where prayers and religious exercises are regularly observed,
and where their children are taught the Koran.
"Trinidad and Demerara, British Guiana, S. A., have each approxi-
mately forty Mohammedan mosques. Many of these structures com-
pare favorably with the Christian houses of worship of the towns and
villages.
"A few Moslems have been converted to the Christian religion in the
West Indies, but most of them, though somewhat more liberal in their
religious views, are staunch believers in Mohammed and the Koran.
The Moslems, here as elsewhere, where opposed, manifest a great deal
of zeal in their endeavors to propagate their faith ; indeed at the present
time learned maulvies go about the country attacking the Christian re-
ligion and advocating that of Mohammed. Many of the Moslems of
the West Indies, though quite conservative, indulge in habits and
practices that are forbidden in the Koran; even drunkenness is not
uncommon among them.
''The greatest barrier to winning the Moslems of the West Indies
to Christ and the Truth is the disgraceful and inconsistent example
set by so many professed Christians.
"Please pray that true Christians may win more of the Moslems of
the West Indies to Christ and His Gospel."
Hungry for the Bible
Here are two incidents.
At Tangier a Moorish lad said to the Bible Society depot-keeper:
"I don't want to forget what they taught me at the Raymund Lull
Orphanage about the Saviour, so I have come to buy a Gospel"; and
he bought St. Luke in Mogrebi Arabic.
A Moslem mullah, who belonged to Nishapur in Persia, gave the
following testimony at his baptism: "My grandfather was the head
of a certain sect of Islam at Herat, in Afghanistan. When I was a
boy, my father once took me to India, where I met a missionary doctor,
who talked to me about his own faith, and his words I have never
forgotten. As a young man, I felt dissatisfied with my own religion,
and searched here and there to find something better — but in vain.
Six years ago there came to Nishapur a man selling books. He told me
that I should read them for myself. So I bought a large book, and
began to read. I had not gone far when I realized that it was for this
that I had been looking so long. It satisfied the hunger of my heart;
and three years ago I believed in Jesus Christ."
Survey by Aeroplane in Egypt
The Near East gives the following news that may hold out a chal-
lenge to missionary methods: "The Nile Valley between the Delta
Barrage and Aswan has just been surveyed in quite the latest way — by
aeroplane. The work was carried out by the Middle East Air Force,
on behalf of the Egyptian Government, and it is reported that it has
already proved of great use to the Irrigation Department. The value
of the aeroplane in the Near East, especially in overcoming difficulties
of desert crossings, is becoming more apparent almost daily. Only last
month it was announced that the R. A. F. had opened up a practicable
route from Jerusalem across the Syrian and Arabian deserts to Bagdad —
CURRENT TOPICS 77
the achievement being all the more remarkable because a chain of ground
stations has been established, with refuelling and revictualling stations.
Although we must certainly expect trouble along this route, its surveying
and laying out constitute a fine feat in themselves, and the flights already
recorded — one of twelve bourse from Cairo to Bagdad by Sir G.
Salmond, and three of about fifteen hours each in the other direction —
show the value of the route. Another development in Near Eastern
travel is promised in the form of a London-Constantinople service to be
inaugurated shortly by a Continental firm. We should like to see such
a service run by a British firm; for there might then be a chance of
British mails and British goods competing on equal terms with those
of our Allies and rivals."
Can Arabic be the Language of Civilization?
Mr. Donald A. Cameron, late H. M.'s Consul General at Alex-
andria, writes in the Spectator as follows:
"Remove every British official from Egypt, put the clock back to
1875, just before Mr. Disraeli bought the Suez Canal shares, regard
the Nile Delta as a Terra del Fuego in which we have no interest, no
trade, no road to India, nothing but a clean slate. The difficulty of
language remains. Forty years' study of Arabic has convinced me that
the noble Arabian language is entirely unsuited for modern European
civilization — a civilization of finance, banking, shipping, commerce in
the fullest sense of the word. The Arabic language and alphabet are
almost as useless as Cuneiform Assyrian for modern purposes. Imagine
the business of our city carried on in foreign languages with superior
foreign competitors, while English was reserved merely for servants.
Education is impossible in Arabic. Every intelligent Egyptian lad is
anxious to master French (or English) in order that he may qualify
in European, foreign, Christian medicine, law, or engineering. Many
enlightened natives are sending their sons to be educated on the Con-
tinent, and several Egyptian students are to be found in London, work-
ing at economics, with a view to a career on their return home. There
is little hope of any career, because Egypt, an artificial oasis fed by the
life-giving streams of Abyssinia, is occupied by millions of ignorant
peasants who can never be educated, and whose trade is in the hands
of the Levantines. The Capitulations can never be abolished in sub-
stance, because they mean capital and commercial credit, having existed
from time immemorial, like the pyramids and palm trees. They will
be stronger than ever with the Mixed Tribunals reinforced. New
presbyter will be but old priest writ large. The more it changes, the
more it will be the same thing. There is no need to quibble over words.
'Himaya in Arabic means both protectorate and protection. Abolish
the former, if ofifensive; but we must protect the native Moslems from
the Levantines, because the Arabic language is but a clumsy knife as
compared with our modern high speed tool of speech in English, French,
Italian, or Greek."
The Fast of Ramadan in Sierra Leone
"Last night the new moon appeared, and with it the end of the
Moslems' month of fasting," writes the Rev. Henry N. Medd. "Today
is the 'Festival of breaking the Fast.'
7« THE MOSLEM WORLD
"It was during Ramadan that a rare opportunity presented itself.
I went to the mud-house of one of the chief men of this place 'to rub
his leg with embrocation' — truth to tell ! It happened my patient was
leaving the house the moment of my approach. He was going to the
mosque, which is situated hard by. I rubbed his 'calf and accom-
panied him out to the road. Already a large number of Moslems were
standing outside the gates of the mosque, awaiting the 'call' to pray.
It seemed a glorious opportunity — there was the crowd, and there was
the atmosphere! My patient introduced me and the results of embro-
cation to the crowd. I talked to them on the things about which we
are agreed, and finally delivered the Gospel Message of the world's
need and its only Saviour. It was an impressive open-air service. The
'call' came, the gates opened, and as those prayer-seekers wended their
way to the place of prayer I felt the ground was holy ground. I raised
my heart — and my helmet."
"Passing through the town I saw the Moslems gathered from
many miles round ; dressed in gay-colored robes they presented a
gorgeous spectacle in the blazing sunshine. During every day of one
whole month these devoted sons of Islam have rigorously abstained from
food and drink. If by any chance one of them should be a pedestrian
on some parched plain, no matter how burning the sun or how scorch-
ing the wind, he must not suffer a drop of water to pass his lips during
a long day. He can only look forward for the sunset, when, without
compromising his faith, he may slake his thirst and refresh with food
his drooping frame. Hence, night after night, during the longest month
I have ever known, I have heard unusual noises coming from the
Moslem camp situated on the outskirts of the mission compound. To-
day the roads are alive with tom-toms, singing, and dancing."
Third Moslem Converts' Conference at Zeitoun
During the week previous to the Conference, Marcus went round
visiting the converts in the Cairo district. He was greatly impressed
with the appreciation shown by nearly all of the thought for them as
converts displayed in its organization, and more especially because of
the personal visit paid to them. He found several of them feeling
intensely the loneliness of their position, and some in great need, and it
seemed to him that God was calling him to make it one of his first
duties to visit them regularly, to help and cheer them on the way.
Letters were also received from different parts of the country, most of
them expressing gladness that their spiritual needs were being con-
sidered.
The same gladness was evident on the faces of those who arrived on
the Monday evening and Tuesday morning. The first two to arrive
joyfully set to work cleaning the conference knives and forks and spoons.
The second two, tired out with a long journey from the Upper Country,
being shown to a place where they could lie down, when seen a few
minutes later were pouring out their souls in prayer for blessing on
the Conference.
About forty converts attended, but we did not have as much help
from the missionaries of other societies as usual. Amongst those who
helped in the speaking were Doctor Zwemer, who gave a magnificent
address, illustrated on the blackboard, about the causes of Peter's fall;
CURRENT TOPICS 79
Mr. Upson, who gave a series of blackboard lessons upon the birth and
childhood of the believer on Tuesday morning, the youth and growth
of the believer on the Wednesday morning, and on the manhood or
perfection of the believer on the Thursday morning; Doctor Phillips,
who conducted the united Communion Service on Thursday afternoon,
and in preparation led us through the Bible, studying the benefits to the
believer of the shed blood of our Lx)rd and Saviour Jesus Christ. What
a blessed time was that Communion Service, when, I think, for the
first time in the history of this country, men and women converts from
Islam met together round the Table of the Lord ; we felt this was fult
of great promise.
There was a great spirit of prayer in all the meetings, and in some
particularly, the hush of God's presence was intensely real. We cannot
record any startling emotional results of the Conference, but one felt
that a solid foundation was being laid for a steadier and holier life for
many.
As in all Converts' Conferences hitherto held, there was a great deal
of talk between meetings amongst themselves as to the advisability of
uniting together in some way for their common welfare. We rather
feared the consequences of this, for some of their leaders were pretty
wild in their ideas; but when after the Communion Service Marcus
read out what we might call their "articles of association," we at once
felt that God had answered prayer and had kept them absolutely
moderate in their aims.
This is largely a self-help movement. That is to say, that the converts
who are in employment and receiving wages will join together to help
those who are in distress. There is to be a committee, composed of
four of the converts and two missionaries, to look into all matters that
concern the converts and to see that they are visited and cared for.
The native members of this committee were elected by ballot, and we
felt that the choice of men could not possibly have been better made.
George Swan.
How Islam Spreads in Africa
"The way in which Islam is marching southward is dramatically
shown by a recent incident. A few years ago the British authorities
suddenly discovered that Mohammedanism was pervading Nyassaland.
An investigation brought out the fact that it was the work of Zanzibar
Arabs. They began their propaganda about 1900. Ten years later
almost every village in southern Nyassaland had its Moslem teacher
and its mosque-hut. Although the movement was frankly anti-European,
the British authorities did not dare to check it for fear of repercussions
elsewhere.
"Islam has thus two avenues of approach to the African Negro — ^hls
natural preference for a militant faith, and his resentment at white
tutelage. It is the disinclination of the more martial African peoples
for a pacific creed which perhaps accounts for Christianity's slow
progress among the very warlike tribes of South Africa, such as the
Zulus and the Matabele. Islam is as yet unknown south of the Zam-
bezi, but white men universally dread the possibility of its appearance,
fearing its effect upon the natives. Of course Christianity has made
distinct progress in the Dark Continent. The natives of the South
6
8o THE MOSLEM WORLD
African Union are predominantly Christianized. In east-central Africa
Christianity has also gained many converts, particularly in Uganda,
while on the West African Guinea coast Christian missions have long
been established, and have generally succeeded in keeping Islam away
from the seaboard. Certainly all white men, whether professing Chris-
tians or not, should welcome the success of missionary efforts in Africa.
The degrading fetishism and demonology which sum up the native pagan
cults cannot stand, and all Negroes will some day be either Christians
or Moslems. In so far as he is Christianized, the Negro's savage
instincts will be restrained and he will be disposed to acquiesce in white
tutelage. In so far as he is Islamized, the Negro's warlike propensities
will be inflamed, and he will be used as the tool of Arab Pan-Islamism,
seeking to drive the white man from Africa and make the continent its
very own." — From The Rising Tide of Colour by Lothrop Stoddard.
Study Course in Islam at the Cairo Study Centre
The general plan of the course, outlined for three years* work, is
to give the missionary student sympathetic knowledge of Islam, its
origin and character, its strength and its weakness, as a religious system.
The aim of the course is practical, not theoretical. It is to fit the mis-
sionary for service as a winner of souls. Each year of the studies in-
cludes four parts as indicated. It is very advisable that the work of
the first year be done before arrival on the field and an oral examination
on arrival should be given the candidate to indicate the degree of
progress in knowledge of Islam already attained.
FIRST YEAR:
(a) General view of Islam, with special reference to its two-fold
character Iman and Din.
Text books: Gairdner's rebuke of islam or Zwemer's islam
A CHALLENGE TO FAITH.
(b) Popular Islam. Macdonald's ASPECTS OF ISLAM or Miss Van
Sommer's our moslem sisters.
(c) Historical and Critical. Pamphlet published by the Board of
Missionary Preparation, New York, entitled preparation of
missionaries for MOSLEM LANDS (This is for guidance in the
whole course, especially for its bibliography).
(d) Method. Selections from Rice's crusaders of the twentieth
CENTURY.
SECOND YEAR:
(a) General view of Islam with special reference to its sources and
Arabic terms. Text books: Stanton's the teaching of the
QURAN.
F. A. Klein's the religion of islam, especially the footnotes,
the report of the lucknow conference 191 i, and Wil-
son's MODERN movements AMONG MOSLEMS for reading.
(b) Popular Islam. Claude Field's mystics and saints in islam.
Zwemer's influence of animism on islam.
Lane's modern Egyptians (Chapters on Superstition).
(c) Historical and Critical. Margoliouth's mohammed and the
rise of islam and his the early development of Moham-
medanism.
CURRENT TOPICS 8i
(d) Method. Tlsdall's Mohammedan objections answered
using Zwemer's Syllabus Outline.
THIRD YEAR:
(a) Special View of Moslem Theology. Macdonald's theology
OF ISLAM or Amir Ali's the spirit of islam.
(b) Popular Islam (The old Orthodoxy). Kitab Mufid 'Awam al
Muslimin by Al Jirjani, Cairo, Al Maliji, 19 12. (For Arabic
terms and view-point) vowelled text only.
(The New Islam) Khuda Bukhsh — essays Indian and islamic^
and Howard Walter's the ahmadiya movement.
(c) Historical and Critical. Sell's historical development of
THE KORAN.
Lane-Poole's mohammedan dynasties (London, 1894).
Nicholson's literary history of the arabs (for reading).
(d) Method. The use of Matthew's Gospel with Moslems
(Lectures). Also Biographical Studies, e. g., life of al-
GHAZALI^ KAMIL ABDUL MESSIH^ A MOSLEM SIR GALAHAD^
SWEET FIRST FRUITS^ CtC.
LABORATORY WORK: Visits to Mosques, Schools, Libraries and
Museums, using Lane Poole's story of cairo (as Guide book),
Funerals, Weddings, Zar, Zikr, 'Aqiqa Ceremony, Schools, Hos-
pitals; beginning with the first year.
N. B. (a), (b) and (d) obligatory courses, (c) optional or recom-
mended except in the first year's course.
The ambitious student will find a larger and more difficult program
outlined in the pamphlet entitled Preparation of Missionaries for
Moslem Lands.
The Redhead Sect
"Dr. N. Daghavarian, a distinguished Armenian physician and
author of Constantinople, recently wrote for the Avedaper and also
issued in pamphlet form an interesting series of articles on the Kuzulbash
sect as found in Turkey. His articles are based on personal investiga-
tions. The theory of the learned author is that the Redheads are the
lineal descendants of the Armenian Paulicians and Tontragists.
*'In order to escape persecution by the Greeks and Armenians, some
of the Paulicians and Tontragists made friends with the Arabs and
entered under their protection, took Arab names and outwardly ac-
cepted Islam. They even adopted circumcision, while retaining their
old beliefs.
''These nominally Moslem sectaries now live in all parts of Armenia
and are known under the name Redheads, (Kuzul bash).
"The Redheads, like the Tontragists and the Arkhvalists, who sprang
from the former, have kept in principle three Christian sacraments, for
although they have changed Baptism into Circumcision, they have
retained Confession, Penance and Absolution, and Communion. Like
the primitive Christians they have night watches for singing Psalms, they
have preserved the memory of fasting connected with several Christian
festivals, they have a sacred staff; some of them believe, like the
Manichaeans, in the transmigration of souls, and finally they have
adopted some of the beliefs and customs of the Alevi Moslems.
82 THE MOSLEM WORLD
"The Redheads number more than a million. In Sivas vilayet there
are about 350,cxx> and their principal centres are Divrig, Tomes,
Yildizli, Zara, Hafik, Zile, Mejideuzii and Hajikeuy. In Mamuret-
iil-Aziz vilayet there are 300,000, chiefly in the sanjaks of Dersim and
Malatla. In Erzroum vilayet there are over 100,000, mostly in the
kazas of Baibourt, Keghi and Terchan. In Angora vilayet also there
are over 100,000, they are found too in the Bitlis and Diarbekir vilayets
and in the sandjak of Samsoun. They are an agricultural and cattle-
raising people. It is quite exceptional for them to engage in trade. In
general they live in isolated plateaus or desolate places, the result of the
persecutions to which they were formerly subjected.
''The Redheads practice Circumcision, not Baptism. According to
some, they do this from fear, not on principle, but they accept it because
even Christ was circumcised.
"The expenses of the rite of circumcision (the fee for circumcision,
the clothes of the child and priests, of the other children and sometimes
of the adults of the house), are borne by him whom the Turkish Red-
heads call babaluk and the Kurds, kirva^ who corresponds to the Chris-
tian godfather in baptism. During the act of circumcision the child
is held in the arms of the kirva, just as among Christians the infant is
held at baptism in the arms of its godfather. Circumcision takes place
in early childhood, sometimes later, but generally is performed before
the age of 15; uncircumcised individuals are also found among them."
Condensed from The Orient,
Islam in England
The daily press of London is utilized by the Ahmadiya propagandists
from time to time as the two following items bear w^itness:
"To the Editor of the Times:
"Sir, — ^We, the undersigned, members of the Moslem Ahmadiya
Brotherhood, rejoice to observe that the Lord Chamberlain has had the
good taste to object to the use of the title Mecca regarding the forth-
coming production at His Majesty's Theatre. The use of such a title
would be abhorrent to all Moslems, who respect their faith and regard
the name of Mecca with great veneration. We are grateful to the Lord
Chamberlain for sparing us the sight of seeing the name of the Holy
City of Islam placarded about London to advertise a theatrical per-
formance, no matter how attractive.
"We are, Sir, your obedient servants,
"F. Mohammed Sayal,
"MouLvi Mubarak Ali,
"Mohammed Husain Malik^
"OsMAN Effendi.
"The Mosque, Melrose-road, East Putney, May 27.
"Yesterday the Muslim world celebrated "Eid," the feast of joy,
which marks the closing of the long fast of Ramadan, and there was a
large gathering of the Mussulman community in England at the
Mosque, Woking, for the event. On carpets spread upon the lawn in
the beautiful grounds of the mosque knelt representatives of the faithful
from India, Turkey, Persia, Egypt and the Soudan, and Africa. The
Turkish Ambassador, Rechid Pasha, was present, together with Shaikh
CURRENT TOPICS 83
M. H. Kidwai of Gadia (Indian Muslim delegation), Mirza Hashim
Ispahim, and Prince Abdul Hamid. The King's Indian orderlies
formed a picturesque group, and there were numerous red fezzes,
gaily-colored turbans, and embroidered coats to lend brilliancy to the
scene. Mingled in the prayer line or seated round as devout spectators
were many English ladies and gentlemen, converts to Islam or friends
of the devotees.
"The Imam, Mustafa Khan, who conducted the prayer, intoned the
salutations and praises in soft, strange, arresting cadences of voice that
seemed to bring the Orient very near. After the fervent prostrations
towards the East, when the salutations Teace be upon you' had been
uttered, the supremacy of Allah proclaimed, and the ears and eyes had
been touched in token that the devotee had shut his senses ofiE from all
communion but that with God, the Imam delivered a short address on
the principles of Islam, showing how Islam was a universal religion,
capable of being received by all humanity. The conception of God in
Islam was, he said, that of a universal God, and in their belief there was
no antagonism between Mahomet and Christ. Islam was a practical
religion. The practice of prayer, which brought the king and the
beggar shoulder to shoulder in the prayer line, impressed the truth of
human fellowship; and the severe fasts taught the rich to understand
and to sympathize with the sufferings of the poor.
''The celebration concluded with a luncheon at which the guests took
it in turn to wait upon their fellow guests, without distinction of rank;
and men hugged one another ceremoniously but heartily in their delight
at relief from a season of very real privation."
The Passing of Islam Among the Moros
Mr. O. Garfield Jones, writing in the New York Christian Herald,
enumerates some of the forces that are disintegrating Islam among the
Philippine Islanders as follows:
"Of course, the Philippine government is not carrying on any
proselyting campaign. The government officials and the public schools
are non-religious. But modern science, western institutions, and an
increasing contact with Christian personalities are sure to have a pro-
found effect upon the future of Mohammedanism in the Philippine
Islands. It has been said repeatedly by Christian missionaries that
Mohammedanism can not survive the critical atmosphere of modern
science and western civilization. If this be true, the faith of Mohammed
is doomed in the Philippine archipelago, because certain it is that
public schools, newspapers and democratic government are opening up
every corner of the archipelago to modern science and western
civilization.
"However, the Christians in the Philippines are not content to remain
silent w^hen the way is open to teach their faith to a people who have
never heard it. Missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic, American,
Spanish and Filipino, have gone into this virgin field to spread their
gospel, and the presence of an increasing number of Christian immi-
grants greatly facilitates the establishment of Christian churches. Re-
lieved of the responsibility for public schools and hospitals, since the
government provides these, the Christian missions in Mindanao and
Sulu should make great progress during the next twenty years, when the
84 THE MOSLEM WORLD
first public school generation of Moros will be coming into full citizen-
ship and when these richest valleys of the archipelago are being settled
so rapidly by Christian Filipinos from the north.
"Just one cloud hangs on the horizon and that one is menacing. The
spirit of fanaticism is quiescent just now, and the education of all
Moro children through the public schools will insure its quiescence in
the future. But the lack of adequate funds to provide the necessary
schools, a decline in the fairness and efficiency of the government ad-
ministration, too great a weakening of the military force back of the
civil government will pave the way for the spread of some local con-
flict between Mohammedans and Christians until it becomes a religious
w^ar throughout Moroland, reviving fanaticism and Moro solidarity in
its ancient form. Such a happening w^ould set back progress in Moroland
at least a generation. It would destroy the present bright hopes of a
unified Filipino nationality as a possibility of the near future. The
avoidance of such a happening depends upon retaining sufficient troops
in the southern islands to discourage the few recalcitrant Moros from
attempting insurrection, keeping the government in Mindanao and Sulu
scrupulously free from partisan influence and impractical theories, and
providing ample government funds from the insular legislature until
economic development and increasing prosperity make the revenues of
these Moro provinces somewhat commensurate to their needs."
Islam in Central Asia
''The political orientation of Islam in Central Asia is said by journal-
ists to be 'kaleidoscopic' Unfortunately there is little of the kaloSj
meaning beautiful, element coming into view as yet. Plus que ga change
plus que cest le meme. Till the Russo-Japanese war it was tsarist Russia
intriguing against Britain; now soviet Russia fills the role faithfully.
What the attitude of Moslem divines towards the proletarian form of
Russian autocracy will be, it is hard to foresee, for both are in process
of reshaping. Officially the Sheikh ul-Islam has denounced Bolshevism
without defining it, on the ground that Islam demands the maintenance
of public order and recognizes private property. Kemal Pasha, as leader
of the Turkish Nationalist Government, somewhat more cautiously re-
marks that 'the situation of our country and the social conditions of our
people do not permit the application of Communism here.' Northern
Armenia has declared itself a soviet republic, but how far it has thereby
secured equitable treatment of its Christian population we do not know.
The situation of the Cilician Armenians is most precarious still. In the
confused fighting, sides are fantastically exchanged ; while Greek soldiers
fight the Turks, Greek merchant vessels carry supplies to them; some
Kurds are pro-Ally, some pro-Turk. In Persia it is said that a new and
more hopeful party has arisen under the leadership of a brilliant journal-
ist, himself a descendant of the Prophet, whose object is to wrest the
guidance of affairs from the hands of the corrupt feudal aristocracy, and
put it into those of the new educated generation. It is to be hoped that
the results of success, if attained, will be more pleasing than in the case
of the New Turks. Much will depend on the Christian influence which
mission schools and colleges are able to exert. In Afghanistan the second
anniversary of the accession of the Amir was celebrated in February by
CURRENT TOPICS 85
a highly modern durbar, attended by all the foreign missions, at which
their members joined in games of bridge, the first of which was started by
the Amir himself. The reporter does not mention what Moslem divines
were present." — United Empire.
A Social Survey of Smyrna
It is a hopeful sign for future missionary yrork that careful surveys
are being made of some of the great cities of the Near East. That of
Constantinople, recently completed, is now published and will be re-
viewed in our Quarterly. A Social Survey Committee under the leader-
ship of Professor Birge, which has been at work for over a year on a
survey of the city of Smyrna, has now completed its report. The report
is being bound and will be on sale presently. It is a volume of intense
interest and helpfulness to any persons interested in conditions in the
Near East. The report is divided into the following sections: History
of Smyrna, the City Government, the Educational System, the Correc-
tional System, Charities, Health, Recreation and Amusements, the Indus-
trial Situation, Summary of Recommendations.
The Independence of the Hejaz
The Ahmadiya community of India prepared an address of welcome
to Lord Reading, setting forth their loyalty to the crown, and making
certain suggestions regarding the internal government of India. They
also refer to the Near East and the Caliphate, and the address goes on
to say :
"But more important still, in our opinion, is the question of the inde-
pendence of Hedjaz, which must remain free from outside interference.
When this question arose every Moslem entertained the misgiving that
the freeing of Hedjaz from Turkish control might mean the bringing of
it under the control of a European power. Hedjaz being a sterile country
would, it was feared, be unable to produce sufficient income to defray
the expenses of its administration, and the Hedjaz Government would be
compelled to borrow money from a foreign country, thus placing itself
under the control of a European power. Recent cables tend to strengthen
these misgivings. Reuter, the other day, mentioned a scheme outlined by
Mr. Churchill, the Secretary of State for Colonies, wherein an annual
subsidy is promised to the Hedjaz Government provided the latter should
undertake to maintain internal peace and put its foreign policy under the
control of Great Britain. This gives rise to certain misgivings and we
request Your Excellency to draw the attention of the Home Government
to their removal. First, the scheme, coming as it does from the Colonial
Secretary, has nothing to do with independent States. Secondly, to put
foreign relations under the control of another government is clearly
incompatible with independence. Thirdly, the stipulation as to the respon-
sibility for the maintenance of internal peace runs counter to the very
conception of independence. The stipulation can only mean that if there
is ever any disturbance in the country, Great Britain will have the right
to change its government, or interfere with its internal administration,
or put the country under military control. Surely this is no independence.
It amounts to complete subjection, with this difference, that Great
Britain will rule Hedjaz not directly but through a Moslem chief. If
86 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the Hedjaz Government is not able to take care of itself it may better
be put under Turkish control subject to the same conditions under
which Mr. Churchill proposes to place it under British control."
Islam in South America
Mr. George Assas, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sends us the following
information :
"The present investigation is made in Brazil, and applies to Buenos
Aires, Argentine Republic, on a smaller scale. The Moslems in other
South American countries are few. The means of investigation are
really nil, and for this reason there is hardly a way to obtain complete
and detailed statistics.
''There are about 20,000 Moslems in Brazil living in Amazonas,
Manaus, Para, Maranhao, Pernambuc, Bahia, Rio and S. Paul States.
As you see they are mostly in the North, and occupy specially the sea-
shore, or are alongside the river. All of these Moslems are either
'Shi'ah' or 'Sunni,' and come mostly from Syria.
"Another class of Moslems come from Morocco and adjacent coun-
tries, and total about 5,000.
"None of these 25,000 make a special effort to propagate the Moslem
religion. They do not have any mosque, nor do they seem to have
any special meetings, although they observe, either as individuals or
in small groups, the Moslem doctrines and disciplines.
"A third class of Moslems in Brazil are the African negroes, who,
brought in the time of slave traffic, still remember their religion and
language. Many of these Moslems still speak Arabic quite well. Their
children, of course, show the mixture of both African and Brazilian
blood, and of both Moslem and Catholic religions. It is told of these
that they go into the Catholic churches and make the sign of the cross,
kneeling and bowing their heads like Catholics, while they repeat the
Moslem creed: 'There is no god but God.' These negro Moslems
are not found in the Argentine Republic. In Brazil, their number is
decreasing rapidly, as they are mixing with the natives, and their
origin will be forgotten at last by the mass of people."
The Feminist Movement in Egypt
The feminist movement in Egypt, which began in the spring of 191 9,
has now taken definite form. Many who saw, in those days of ex-
citement and unrest, the native veiled ladies, generally known to
Europeans by the name of "harem," going about the streets in their
carriages, cheering the demonstrators and shaking their little handker-
chiefs to encourage them, and making speeches in Al-Azhar, in the
streets and elsewhere, said this augured well for the movement, for
they knew that the latent energy in the ladies had at last found an
outlet. Indeed, soon after, they saw that these ladies, who had emerged
from their seclusion and had shaken off their inactivity, had settled
down to more permanent work; in other words, having realized that
they are the equals of members of the opposite sex, and have the same
rights, privileges and duties — one of which latter is to their country,
which the male part of the population is endeavoring to liberate from
a foreign yoke — they began to help to raise their country to the desired
CURRENT TOPICS 87
level of enlightenment by improving the present condition of the mem-
bers of their sex. As soon as the situation grew^ quieter, the native
ladies decided that there were two ways to help their countrywomen:
to form societies, and to publish magazines entirely dedicated to their
own interests, and it was not long before three of these societies were
formed, one of which is Al-Nahda al-Nisayia (The Feminist Move-
ment) with a ''magalla," or magazine, of its own.
The first number of this magazine appeared on the first of this
month, and I learn from it that the editor and manager is Madame
Labiba Ahmed, who is also president of the Society of Al-Nahda al-
Nisayia. On the cover is given, in addition to a picture of the famous
statue by Mahmoud Mukhtar, the noted Egyptian sculptor — known
by the name of "The Renaissance of Egypt" — a quotation to the
effect that "A nation will not die so long as its men and women work
together," — a very fit dictum! I must here remark that the editor and
manager, Madame Labiba Ahmed, spoken of above is the mother of
Dr. Ismail Mortada Bey. She is one of the most highly educated native
ladies. In a short introduction, Madame Labiba Ahmed says that "If
we (native women) have been the object of admiration of the world
by the share we took in political matters, from the point of view of
our sex we have made the Egyptian woman not only an object of
admiration but also of respect, the sense of serious life having penetrated
into our souls." In another short article the editor gives us the object
of her society, which is to bind the ladies together and to help to raise
them to the high level fit for them, to care for the foundlings, and to
give lectures on literary and social subjects.
It is worthy of note that each member of the society has, on joining,
to take the following oath: "I swear to make chastity my crown, and
virtue my guide; to live as a free woman, a good and useful wife and
mother; to do my duty honestly to my God, my fatherland and my
country; to love others as I love myself, and to hate for them what
I hate for myself. So help me God." No better set of rules could be
imagined.
As for the contributions to this number, they are a literary feast, for
they deal with various subjects of interest particularly to women. Dr.
Ismail Bey Mortada, the editor's son, discourses on hygiene from the
earliest days of history, and Dame Kamar Abdoh on nursing the sick,
insisting principally on the moral influence the nurse should have on
her patients, on the cleanliness of the patients, of their clothes and of
their rooms, and on how to administer a remedy to a patient. Dr.
Abdul Aziz Nazmi Bey, the noted specialist for the diseases of children,
deals in an illustrated article, with the care of babies, while Dr. Abdalla
Harfush has a great deal to say on a mother's duties to her children.
Miss Marie Ziade, the eminent writer, so well known to Gazette
readers, has a weighty article on the feminist movement, in which she
says: "A day came when woman had to raise her voice, not to give
proofs of her political acumen, but to show the world that she is as
anxious as a man to attain the national aspirations of the country,
and that she does not refuse to give up the veil or apprehend the dangers
in the way of the political liberty of the country, and her efforts in this
respect were received with admiration. If man admired her, it was not
because of the demonstrations in which she took part, but because she
B8 THE MOSLEM WORLD
proved to him that she is capable of advancing, and gave him a small
example of w^hat she can do. I say 'a small example,' because it is
easy for one to imitate others; the great thing that she can do is to
return to her home, her little kingdom, to educate herself and her
children, to be fit for the two beautiful names of wiie and mother, to
be the lady, not the slave, of her husband Political liberty is not
the real liberty, for a nation can be free from a political point of vievs^,
and yet a slave in its character and disposition; the best liberty is that
of the soul, and the best independence is that of thought." — Egyptian
Gazette.
Letter to Lenin from the Afghan Amir
We have no reason to doubt the genuineness of the follow^ing letter
published in The Manchester Guardian. Although vs^ritten over a year
ago it throw^s light on the situation as it vs^as and is in Central Asia.
The Amir's Letter
This letter is dated 9th Kausa, 1299, by solar reckoning, or the
beginning of December, 11920:
"To the great, the humane defender of civilization, the sincere pro-
tector of Eastern peoples and the friend of the free Afghan State and
nation, his Supreme Excellency the President of the great Russian
Republic, may Allah preserve him.
"On the occasion of the satisfactory ending of the recent negotiations
concerning the establishment of a basis of neighbourly and friendly
relations between the governments of the Russian Soviet Republic under
your High Presidency and my Imperial Government, and their con-
clusion by a friendly treaty — I congratulate my high friend President
Lenin, expressing my delight in this matter, and I hope that the afore-
said treaty will be confirmed and its provisions enter into force as
speedily as possible.
"In view of the fact that the Government of the Russian Soviet
Republic has directed its well-intentioned purposes and sympathies to-
wards the overthrow throughout the world of the policy of Imperialism,
and especially towards the liberation of the peoples of the East from
the despotism of world Imperialists and towards the establishment of
conditions in which each people shall itself decide its fate as a State,
these matters were in themselves reason for supreme eagerness and for
the regulation of relations between my Imperial Government and the
Government of the Russian Soviet Republic.
"The mutual obligations, which are in the concluded treaty where
it concerns that policy, with regard to the assurance and preservation
of the complete independence of the Governments of Bokhara and
Khiva, we consider also as a material proof of these freedom-loving
ideas.
"From his Highness Jemal Pasha, who has since been in our capital,
we have heard of all the noble ideas and intentions of the Government
of the Russian Soviet Republic with regard to the enfranchisement of
the whole Eastern world, and of the fact that the aforesaid Government
has concluded an alliance with the Government of Turkey, which in
the present war has suffered attack of the most unjustifiable kind, and
CURRENT TOPICS 89
in confirmation of that alliance has given her material and moral help.
These explanations and informations strengthen and confirm more than
ever our hopes and beliefs in the actions of your Government.
"The Afghan Government has great hopes concerning this common
object, to which it attributes very great significance, and places as the
very foundation of its policy this aim, humane with regard to all man-
kind, and is ready by all means and at all times to pursue the con-
tinuance of our mutual friendship. Wherefore the Afghan Govern-
ment hopes that the sincerity of its ideas and hopes will meet with
the respect and trust which it deserves on your high part. And I, in the
very strongest manner, hope that, for the sake of the realization of
these ideas and hopes, you, in a special way, on your high part will
facilitate the efforts that are being made in the attainment of certair
immediate possibilities.
''The treaty we have concluded established the bases of our sincert
relations, and we have no doubt that in future these bases will be still
further strengthened and confirmed, and that the attainment of these
high mutual aims will justify the desires of both parties.
"Since it is my Imperial wish that certain misunderstandings hitherto
caused by officials on both sides in the current relations of the two
States should be speedily liquidated, necessary instructions have been
given to the proper person. I hope that you, on your high part, will
be so good as to give similar instructions to the proper persons with the
object of facilitating friendly relations.
"In particular, I beg you not to refuse to give your instructions that
the suggestions made by our Minister for Foreign Afifairs to the
Commissar for Foreign Affairs, concerning certain supplementary agree-
ments, economic and with regard to consular representatives, to confirm
and regularize the relations between the two States, should be accepted
as speedily as possible.
"I hope that the efforts we are making, the object of which is the
liberation of the whole Eastern world, will be crowned with success,
anTl I beg you to accept the expression of my extraordinary respect.
"Your friend,
"Amir Amanulla.''^
The Afghan Press
We learn from The Tiines, London, something of the new journalism
in the great closed land. Perhaps through the printed page the message
of the Kingdom may first cross the borders:
"Fleet-street may well envy the young Afghan editors. It is the
golden age of journalism when a nation is beginning to think, and truth
is as fresh as dew, and there is no bugbear of banality.
"Under the progressive Ameer, Amanullah, Afghanistan is rousing
herself from her sleep, and the two Nationalist journals, the Aman-i-
Afghan, of Kabul, and the Ittihad-i-Mashraqt (Eastern Unity), of
Jalalabad, aim at reflecting the national enlightenment. The
A man-i- Afghan and the Ittihad-i-Mashraqi date from October, 19 19,
and February, 1920, respectively. Both journals are published in
Persian, and claim to be unofficial, though the inspiration and control
of the Ameer's Government are obvious, as is the Bolshevist hand be-
90 THE MOSLEM WORLD
hind it. Subscription to the A man-i- Afghan is obligatory upon officials
of a certain grade, and is deducted by the Royal Office from their
salaries.
"Politically one learns a great deal about the revolt in the East from
the new Afghan journals. They help one to understand the anti-
European sentiment, which has been brewing all over Asia for half
a century, and which has been brought to a head, not so much by the
war, as by the suspense and uncertainty succeeding it, due partly to the
Allies' long indecision, partly to the Bolshevists' insinuations as to our
exhaustion and impotence. It would be impossible to gain so clear a
reading of the heart of the East from the Indian, Persian, Arabian, or
Egyptian vernacular Press. The modern, progressive, constitutional
Afghan soul is naked in its simplicity, and it is the soul of the East in
embryo, an East which is growing more envious, resentful, and con-
temptuous of its Western neighbours, and more impatient of inter-
ference, every day.
"There is a human and pathetic side to the Afghan Press with which
one must sympathize, in spite of its unfairness of judgment and distor-
tion of fact. The Moral Reader vein, which the Americans would call
'high-browed,' is very engaging in Afghanistan. The leader-writers
of Kabul and Jalalabad generally introduce a brief dissertation on
the value of knowledge, the advantages of unity, or the danger of the
neglect of education. 'Be firm in adopting good habits and in shunning
bad ones,' Kabul warns its readers. *If in your youth you do good,
in your old age you will not be sorry for your mis-deeds.' Maxims like
this carry conviction to the simple-minded of the genuineness of the
printed matter in which they are interspersed. 'Knowledge is
the most precious of jewels,' reflects Jalalabad. 'Knowledge gave the
Allies strength. Through unity they won the war'; and the con-
clusion of these moralizings is the up-to-date simile that knowledge
without unity is like a motor without petrol."
The New Woman in Egypt
The spread of education among men and women in Egypt has had
great influence on their ideas of marriage ; now young men are not satis-
fied with the choice of their wives by their parents, and young women,
too, wish at least to see what their future husbands are like. This change
in the social life of the natives is noticeable wherever one goes in Cairo
and Alexandria; while in past time man and wife were very seldom seen
together in the streets, we now see them in the same box in theatres, and
the women, at least of the upper classes, who were never seen alone in the
streets, have dispensed with the services of a servant to protect them
when they go visiting or to make purchases from the large stores. In
former days all that a man expected of his wife was that she should be
good to look at and know all about housekeeping. Now he wants this
and more, as the author of Kaifa Takun Zaivgaty (How I should like
my wife to be) tells us. The author of this book is Abdul Adiz Emin
el Khangi, who translated the works of Princess Kadria Hussein from
Turkish to Arabic. He details the qualities which should adorn his
future wife, and which he considers essential for his and her happiness
which can be easily imagined by the reader. But the author does more
than that. He condemns many habits, principally the wearing of the
CURRENT TOPICS 91
veil, consulting a fortune-teller before signing the marriage contract, and
many others. He considers it very strange that native women and young
ladies should hold long discussions w^ith men-assistants in the stores, with
tram-conductors and others, and yet a man refuses a wooer permission to
see his daughter before he marries her. As for consulting fortune-tellers,
it often happens, says the author, that the father consults a half-made
sheikh as to the future in store for his daughter before giving her in
marriage. "Our marriage affairs," cries the author, "are like most of
our interests; we entrust them to fate and destiny." — Egyptian Gazette.
The New Woman in Constantinople
"It is impossible to be in Constantinople for more than a few hours
without noticing the entirely new position now occupied by the Moslem
woman, who is commencing to assume her position in work, in politics
and in society," writes Mr. H. C. Woods in the Fortnightly.
"They now act as hospital nurses, they serve in shops (even the famous
Turkish Delight establishment has a woman cashier), and they work
in the telephonic exchange. In addition, I went to several men's houses
and offices where women brought in the coffee, tea or cigarettes and made
up the fires, which would have been impossible a few years ago. Such
a development means that, over and above its effect upon the lighter side
of life, at present and still more in the future a man is and will be
possessed of a friend, a companion and an assistant.
"Even now one meets the Turk walking or driving with his lady
relations, and already women of the upper class are beginning to do their
own housekeeping and to help their husbands to entertain. But, perhaps
most important of all, this innovation will have vital results for the
future of the race in that the child of today and tomorrow will be brought
up, not in the retrograde atmosphere of a closed harem, but under the
influence of women who know at least something of the outer world.
This emancipation of women makes itself apparent to the visitor by the
fact that men are now quite widely received in female society and by
the modern costumes which are disported in the streets. For instance, I
myself went to a fashionable tea party where my hostess welcomed her
friends of both sexes. Turkish ladies, some alone and some accompanied
by their husbands came and went. Their conversation (all those with
whom I spoke talked English and French perfectly) was such as to prove
that they had been educated, not as described in the modern novel, but
rather in accordance with the better and truer principles of the twentieth
century.
"I lunched at the house of a rich, middle-aged widow, who spoke
nothing but Turkish, and who received her party, consisting of an
English lady, a Turkish Pasha and myself, in her bedroom. Here one
was completely in the East, and there was nothing modern in the estab-
lishment except the mind and soul of the woman — a mind and soul the
like of which may yet be responsible for the regeneration of the Turkish
nation."
Literature in East Africa
Speaking at the London School of Oriental Studies: Miss Alice
Werner said that the Islamisation of East Africa was not due to any
great movement of conquest or invasion. The settlers brought their re-
92 THE MOSLEM WORLD
ligion with them, and their children by native wives grew up in it, while
the slaves adopted it as a matter of course. At present ''Swahili" and
"Moslem" were practically synonymous terms, and the members of the
inland tribes who were Islamised usually called themselves Swahili. Prac-
tically all Swahili Moslems were Sunnis, and most of them belonged to
the Shafi sect. It was uncertain how long ago the Arabic character was
first applied to the writing of Swahili — no manuscripts more than a
hundred years of age appeared to be in existence ; but some of the poetry
extant was known to be of great antiquity. The Inkishafi was certainly
earlier than the advent of the Portuguese in a 498, and some verses at-
tributed to Liongo Fumo were dated by some before the thirteenth cen-
tury. A great body of Swahili verse was in existence ; much of this was
written, and fresh manuscripts were continually being brought to light.
Much of it was oral, being either handed down by tradition or continu-
ally produced afresh, for song and improvisation were as much a part of
the people's life as they were, or used to be, in Italy. Most of the popu-
lar poetry and all the written poetry differed from the non-Islamised
Bantu by possessing a distinct system of rhyme and metre. A feature
entirely due to Moslem influence was that much of the poetry was of a
religious character. Some of the poetry was by women.
Miss Werner gave extracts from or translations of some of these
poems. One was a variation of the story of Job; others had been
derived through the Koran ultimately from the Talmud or the apocry-
phal gospels. Another, of which she did not know the origin and which
had not previously been published, was briefly as follows: The arch-
angels Michael and Gabriel disputed as to whether there was any longer
any compassion left on earth. Michael said that all men had become
entirely hardhearted and cruel; Gabriel took a kindlier view. To
settle the point they took human shape, and Michael, as a very sick man,
sat at the door of a mosque in Mecca, attracting the attention of the
people as they passed in and out. Gabriel appeared then in the form of
a doctor, and was asked what would cure Michael. He replied that
there was only one possible remedy. A man and wife must be found
who had had seven children and lost them all excepting one, then, if
they would sacrifice this one, Michael could be cured. It happened
that a man, wife, and child fulfilling the required conditions were to
be found in Mecca, and, being asked, all three were quite willing that
the sacrifice should be made. In a great many stanzas and with much
weeping the poem then related how the child's throat was cut, after
which Gabriel appeared in his own shape and restored the child to life.
Letters of a Javanese Princess
Under this title a book has recently appeared from the press which
transports us to the inner life of women in Java, and shows the struggle
between the old Islam and the new civilization in vivid outlines.
Kartini the daughter of a Javanese Regent is the author of the letters.
A writer in The Nation summarizes the contents of this most interesting
volume as follows:
First she had to effect her own emancipation. She found courage
and means to resist the Mohammedan code in order that
no parents might ever again be able to quiet their daughters' longings for
independence by saying, "There is no one now who does it." Forbidden
CURRENT TOPICS 93
by law to learn languages, Kartini and her sisters did learn Dutch at the
free grammar school for Europeans, the only school to be found for girls.
They saw with clear eyes the task they had set themselves: "We know
what awaits us. We three are going hand in hand through life that for us
will be full of struggle and disappointment ... it leads toward
freedom and happiness for millions." She realized that the first step
forward for the Javanese woman lay in economic independence. "Teach
her a trade, so that she will no longer be powerless when her guardians
command her to contract a marriage which will inevitably plunge her
and whatever children she may have into misery." Though most of
her friends and advisers were Dutch and she had a vast respect for
"Western civilization," Kartini kept singularly pure and native ideals
for herself and her people. "We do not wish to make of our pupils
half Europeans or European Javanese. We want a free education, to
make of the Javanese, above everything, a strong Javanese." Her
death in 1904 put an abrupt end to her work, but she had lived long
enough and passionately enough to set a vast impulse on foot, as a re-
sult of which most of the ideas for which she struggled are now gen-
erally accepted among her countrymen. Kartini schools exist through-
out Java; girls may now earn their living without disgracing their
families; and polygamy is rapidly dying out among the younger
generation.
What the Near East Relief Committee Has Accomplished
"As required by law, the Near-East Relief has prepared a report for
presentation to Congress, detailing the activities of its work. It is shown,
according to The Intelligencer, that $14,596,336.89 has been accounted
for as receipts and disbursements during 1920. The total cash receipts
and disbursements since the organization of the committee amount to
$46,482,924.38, while the addition of flour, merchandise, and items
other than cash bring the total valuation of the relief administered
through this organization to more than $60,000,000.
"As to the accomplishments of the organization, Mr. Vickrey's report
shows 711 American and Canadian relief workers, including physicians,
surgeons, nurses, mechanics, industrial experts, engineers, agriculturists,
teachers, administrators, orphanage experts, supply, transportation, and
general relief workers employed on little more than a volunteer basis,
while 87,291 native workers have been used by the Near-East Relief
organization. According to the report, 63 hospitals, with 6,522 beds,
128 clinics, II rescue homes, 299 orphanages accommodating 54,600
children in orphanages, and 56,039 children outside orphanages, have
been maintained by the Near-East Relief.
"It is reported that approximately 2,790,490 Armenians are still
living out of a pre-war population of about 4,000,000. In parts of
Cilicia alone it is stated that 65 per cent, of the Armenian Christian
population perished from starvation during the war, while in the whole
of Syria not less than 25 per cent, perished from the same cause. It is
estimated that had it not been for the American relief furnished through
the Near East Relief, fully half of the present Armenian population of
the Near East would have succumbed.
"The field of operations covered European Turkey (Thrace), Ana-
tolia, Armenia, Cilicia, Kurdistan, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Persia,
94 THE MOSLEM WORLD
and Transcaucasia. While relief is given impartially to all the needy,
without distinction as to race or religion, the greater part of the work
is declared to have been carried on among the Armenians, Greeks,
Nestorians, Syrians, and Assyrians, largely Christian, of whom 651,970
were furnished food during a large part of 1920, and 300,0(X> garments,
comprising 1,500,000 pounds of clothing and shoes, were distributed
to refugees."
The Economic Position in Morocco
A valuable report on the "Trade, Industry, and Finance of Morocco"
was issued last year by the Department of Overseas Trade. The
larger part naturally refers to the French Protectorate and affords in-
teresting evidence of the progress made in the direction of economic
development in the comparatively short time since the inauguration of
the Protectorate, in spite of all drawbacks caused by the war. The
most striking progress is perhaps that in the development of the system
of roads. When the war broke out, one road only, from Casablanca to
Rabat, had been made, but under the energetic impulsion of General
Lyautey the making of new roads was prosecuted so vigorously that a
network now extends all over the Protectorate in every direction. The
only railways have hitherto been 60-centimetre military ones, but work
on the normal gauge Tangier- Fez line (international) has been pro-
ceeding for some time, and the Protectorate Government has begun
work on the Casablanca- Petit jean section of the general railway scheme
now being studied ; it will eventually be continued to Marakesh. The
principal port, Casablanca, suffers from serious congestion, and it is to
be regretted that Safi, with the deepest and best anchorage on the coast,
capable of handling up to 11400 tons of cargo per diem with no mechan-
ical equipment, has been unaccountably neglected of late. The agricul-
tural resources include the usual cereals and seeds, and experiments in
flax and hemp cultivation have given promising results. The mineral
resources are still undeveloped. — The Geoffraphical Journal.
BOOK REVIEWS
West and East. The Expansion of Christendom and the Naturalization
of Christianity in the Orient in the XlXth Century. Dale Lectures.
Oxford, 1913, by Edward Caldwell Moore, Professor of Christian
Morals, Harvard University, and President of the American Board of
Commissioners of Foreign Missions. 8vo. 410 pp. Index. Charles
Scribner's Sons, New York. 1921.
"West" is defined as the realm of scientific, political, educational,
moral, and religious ideas that have made European civilization, par-
ticularly England, her colonies and lands of her predominant influence,
like the United States. ''East" is the realm of ideas, philosophy,
religions, characteristic of Oriental peoples, particularly, Japan, China,
India. The impact of the West upon the East, and the reciprocal
influence of the East upon the West is studied in eight lectures:
Lect. I, Expansion of Christendom, Meaning of Phrase, Motives;
Lect. II, Motives, Relation to other movements, Comparison vv^ith
earlier periods; Lect. Ill, Relation of Religion and Civilization, in
early Catholic missions, early Protestant period, ideals of our own time;
Lect. IV, Results in Medicine, Trade, Government, Slavery, Opium;
Lect. V, Education, Africa and America, China and Japan ; Lect. VI,
Education, India, the Press, Women; Lect. VII, Church and Min-
istry; Lect. VIII, Doctrine and Life.
Encyclopedic in its scope and enormous array of facts, difficult to
read because not enough pains have been taken to indicate and sum-
marize its resultant conclusions and principles; yet deserving of the
most careful study by every student of missions, religion, and the history
of civilization, — by all means a book to be seriously reckoned with.
Among its conspicuous merits are the f ollovnng : its clear grip of the
truth that the history of missions is one of the outstanding phases of the
history of civilization, to be comprehended only in relation to the other
great movements of history; its exhibition of the various motives,
conquest, trade exploitation, civilization, and religion, which have
dominated the impact of West on East, particularly the reciprocal
influence of the civilizing (or social service) motive and the evangelistic
motive; its keen and broad sympathy with both the defects and the
merits of both East and West ; its thorough acceptance of the principle
that the East has a contribution to make as well as the West in the
final solution of all our unsolved problems; its noble apology for evan-
gelism as the sine qua non of missions.
The work has the merits and the defects of Neo-Kantianism in
philosophy and Ritschlianism in religion. The author plays hide and
seek with the thought element in religion, at one turn insisting on the
inevitableness of metaphysic and theology (p. 362, e. g.) and at the next
eliminating them in insisting that our theology, shaped by the thought
of Plato and Kant, has no significance for the East. Appreciating the
influence on theology of the group-mind and the spirit of each age, there
is in the book no intimation of an abiding value in successive interpre-
tations of Christianity. There is defective grip of the concepts of
7 95
96 THE MOSLEM WORLD
development, identity, and change, hence the author finds no finality
in any Christianity so far known. Korea's conversion, e. g., is an
artificial adoption of western concepts and liturgy, a stage to be merged
into a naturalized Korean Christianity no living western mind can
prognosticate. The missionary's power is neither in his message, nor
in his liturgy, — only in his character. Being a Christian is "an inner
moral and spiritual experience, an attempt to fashion all life according
to certain ideals" (p. 404), hut to attempt to run this into any molds of
thought, church organization, or liturgy is to lapse into "belief in the
exclusive rightfulness of one type of culture which is the essence of
provincialism" (p. 3).
As a study in what one might call the phenomenology of missions, the
book is to be commended especially to conservative students. But it is
a good example of the author's own statement that the philosophy of the
movement has not yet been grasped.
John E. Kuizenga.
Travels in Arabia Deserta. By Charles M. Doughty, with a new Preface
by the author, and Introduction by T. E. Lawrence. Two Volumes.
Medici Society and Jonathan Cape. London. 9 guineas net.
The first edition of this work, which has become a classic on Arabia
and the Arab, was published in 1888. It was soon sold out, and second-
hand copies rarely came into the market, selling for twenty or thirty
guineas. An abridged edition was prepared thirteen years ago, but was
unsatisfactory, except to whet the appetite for the original. During the
war the only copy procurable in Cairo was taken from a missionary
library, and proved invaluable both at headquarters and on the field
in Palestine and Arabia.
Arabia Deserta is a triumph both of art and of personality. No one
could write as Doughty did, and none have ever had a deeper insight
into the Arab mind, or have described so accurately the riddle of the
desert. Doughty entered Arabia and penetrated its recesses without
denying his Christian faith. His view may sometimes appear narrow,
but it is spiritual. He saw Islam as professed by its most fanatical
followers, he tasted of their hospitality, their deceits, and hatred of
the stranger. In one place he writes, "And as we drank around, they
bade me call myself a Moslem, and in my heart be still of what
opinion I would, (this indulgence is permitted in the Koran to any
persecuted Muslimin) — words not far from wisdom; and I have often
felt the iniquitous fortune of traveling thus, an outlawed man (and in
their sight worthy of death), only for a name, in Arabia. It had cost
me little or naught to confess Konfuchu or Socrates to be apostles of
Ullah; but I could not find it in my life to confess their barbaric
prophet of Mecca, and enter, under the yoke, their solemn fools'
paradise."
This man had in him the spirit of a martyr. Many were the hair-
breadth escapes he endured with stoicism. At Hayl, at Kheybar, at
Aneyza, and then the final jeopardy outside Mecca, when even his
hidden pistol, Doughty's last resource, was torn away by one who
betrayed him. I met this man years afterwards in our hospital at
Bahrein, in East Arabia, and read the account translating word by word
the story of the journey to Tayif. The blunt Bedouin affirmed with
BOOK REVIEWS 97
many wallahs the accuracy of every detail, and yet expressed his admira-
tion for the bold adventurer.
To read this book is to live the life of the Arabian vs^aste, to enter
the nomad tents, to share their humble fare, to think their thoughts
after them. As Doughty says:
*'Oh, whsLt bliss to the thirsty soul is in that light sv^eet v^^ater, welling
soft and warm as milk, from the rock ! And I heard the subtle harmony
of Nature, which the profane cannot hear, in that happy stillness and
solitude. Small bright dragon-flies, azure, dun and vermilion, sported
over the cistern water ruffled by a morning breath from the figgera,
and hemmed in the solemn lava rock. The silver fishes glance beneath,
and white shells lie at the bottom of this water world. I have watched
there the young of the thob shining like scaly glass and speckled: this
fairest of saurians lay sunning, at the brink, upon a stone ; and of ttimes
moving upon them and shooting out the tongue he snatched his prey of
flies without ever missing. — Glad were we when Jummar had filled our
girby of this sweet water."
Colonel Lawrence contributes an introduction to the reprint in which
he gives his just and full meed of praise to this great masterpiece.
Z.
Studies in Islamic Mysticism. By Reynold Alleyne Nicholson. 24s.
Cambridge University Press.
"Mysticism," says Dr. R. A. Nicholson, in the preface of this his
latest work on the subject, "is such a vital element in Islam, that with-
out some understanding of its ideas, and of the forms which they
assume, we should seek in vain to penetrate below the surface of
Mohammedan religious life. The forms may be fantastic and the
ideas difficult to grasp; nevertheless we shall do well to follow them,
for in their company East and West often meet and feel themselves
akin."
The Studies in Islamic Mysticism consist of three essays on the
thought and writings of three Moslem mystics, famous in the East, but
not so well known in Europe and America. Abu Sa'id Fadlu 'llah, the
first, was a Persian, born 967 A. d. The stories of his free living and
telepathic powers give an interesting picture of one phase of Sufism.
The document which contains the short treatise on his life is preserved
in manuscript in the British Museum, and has been identified by
Zhukoski with the Halat-u-Sukhunan-i Shaykh Abu Sa'id ibn Abi '1-
Khayr, a work composed by one of his descendants about a century
after his death. The following passage records how Abu Sa'id brought
about self-effacement:
"I abandoned my studies and retired into the niche of the chapel in
my own house. There I sat for seven years, saying continually, 'Allah !
Allah! Allah!' Whenever drowsiness or inattention arising from the
weakness of human nature came over me, a soldier with a fiery spear —
the most terrible and alarming figure that can possibly be imagined — ■
appeared in front of the niche and shouted at me, saying, "O Abu Sa'id,
say, 'Allah!' " The dread of that apparition used to keep me burning
and trembling for whole days and nights, so that I did not again fall
asleep or become inattentive; and at last every atom of me began to
cry aloud, 'Allah! Allah! Allah!'"
98 THE MOSLEM WORLD
For the last forty years of his life it is impossible to give the events
in any chronological order. His mode of life v^^as quite a contrast to
that of the rigid asceticism of the Sufis of the old school. "What were
they to think of a man," says Doctor Nicholson, "whose visitors found
him lolling on cushions, like a lord, and having his feet massaged by
one of his dervishes? A man who prayed every night that God would
give his disciples something nice to eat, and spent all the money he
received on costly entertainments?" Sometimes when he and his
dervishes were without funds, someone would present him with a purse
of gold containing the exact amount required for a feast, neither more
nor less. His powers of mind-reading were a terror to both foe and
follower. Hasan, his steward, was in debt a thousand dirhems. Hajib
Muhammad came to visit the convent bringing a present of 500 dirhems.
The Shaykh said, "God bless him! but he has not brought the full
amount, he has left half of it behind his pillow. Hasan owes a thou-
sand dirhems. Let him give Hasan the whole sum that (he) may be
free from anxiety."
European scholars have depended almost entirely upon the
quatrains which Abu Sa'id is said to have composed for his mystical
doctrines. Doctor Nicholson doubts, on very good grounds, whether he
is the author of any of these. He was rather the compiler of an
anthology reflecting the ideas of Persian mysticism as a whole. Some
of the sayings taken from his sermons and conversations reveal in simple
untechnical language the common ideas of the Sufis, for Abu Sa'id was
neither theologian nor philosopher.
"It (Sufism) is glory in wretchedness, and riches in poverty, and
lordship in servitude, and satiety in hunger, and clothedness in naked-
ness, and freedom in slavery, and life in death, and sweetness in
bitterness.
"The Sufi is he who is pleased with all that God does, in order that
God may be pleased with all that he does.
"To say 'There is no god but Allah' is not enough. Most of those
who make the verbal profession of faith are polytheists at heart, and
polytheism is the one unpardonable sin So long as any one regards
his purity and devotion, he says, 'Thou and I,' but when he considers
exclusively the bounty and mercy of God, he says, 'Thou! Thou!' and
then his worship becomes a reality."
Once a learned theologian listening to a discourse by Abu Sa'id
thought to himself that his doctrine was not to be found in the seven
sevenths of the Koran. Abu Sa id turned upon him and said, "Doctor,
thy thought is not hidden from me. The doctrine that I preach is con-
tained in the eighth seventh of the Koran .... Ye imagine that the word
of God is of fixed quantity and extent. Nay, the infinite Word of God
that was sent down to Mohammed is the whole seven sevenths of the
Koran; but that which he causes to come into the hearts of His serv-
ants does not admit of being numbered and limited, nor does it ever
cease."
About the pilgrimage to Mecca it is recorded that he said, "Why
have I not performed the pilgrimage? It is no great matter that thou
shouldst tread under thy feet a thousand miles of ground in order to
visit a stone house. The true man of God sits where he is, and the
BOOK REVIEWS 99
Bait al Ma'mur comes several times in a day and night to visit him,
and perform the circumambulation above his head. Look and see."
All vi^ho vv^ere present looked and saw^ it.
Doctor Nicholson concludes his essay on Abu Sa'id, "It v^^ould be
absurd to reproach his biographers w^ith their credulity and entire lack of
critical judgment: they write as vrorshippers He w^as a great
teacher and preacher of Sufism. If the matter of his doctrine is seldom
original, his genius gathered up and fused the old elements into some-
thing new. In the historical development he stands out as a leading
exponent of the pantheistic, poetical, anti-scholastic, and anti-nomian
ideas which had already been broached by his predecessor Bayazid of
Bistam, and Abu '1-Hasan Kharaqani Although he founded no
Order, the convent over which he presided supplied a model in outline
of the fraternities that were established during the I2th century."
The second essay is a resume of al-Insanu 'l-Kamil by Abdu '1-Karim
ibn Ibrahim al-Jili, another Persian, born about 4 centuries after Abu
Sa'id. *'As a writer he is not without talent, though his work belongs
to mysticism rather than literature The characteristic of the
Insanu 'l-Kamil is the idea of the Perfect Man, 'who as the microcosmos
of a higher order reflects not only the powers of nature but also the
divine powers as in a mirror' Jili calls the Perfect Man the
preserver of the universe, the Qutb, or Pole, on which all the spheres of
existence revolve. He is the final cause of creation, i. e., the means by
which God sees Himself, for the Divine names and attributes cannot
be seen as a whole except in the Perfect Man In the 60th
chapter of the Insanu U-kamil he (al-Jili) depicts Mohammed as the
absolutely perfect man, the first created of God, and the archetype of
all other created beings. This, of course, is an Islamic Logos doctrine.
It brings Mohammed in some respects very near to the Christ of the
Fourth Gospel and the Pauline epistles. I need hardly say," continues
Doctor Nicholson, "that Mohammed gave the lie direct to those who
would have thrust this sort of greatness upon him: his apotheosis is
the triumph of religious feeling over historical fact No one who
reads the Insanu '1-Kamil can fail to discern that its author was pro-
foundly influenced by Christian ideas, though it is not always possible
to separate these from the Jewish, Gnostic and other elements with
which they are intermingled. I need only allude to the Trinitarian
basis of the Divine nature, and the prominence given to the Holy
Spirit as the source and, in relation to man, the organ and sustaining
principle of spiritual life."
Of the philosophy of Jili, Doctor Nicholson remarks, "Jili belongs
to that school of Sufis who hold that being is one, that all apparent
differences are modes, aspects, and manifestations of reality, that the
phenomenal is the outward expression of the real Essence that
really exists is of two kinds: Pure Being, or God, and Being joined
to not-being, i. e., the world of created things. The essence of God is
unknowable per se; we must seek knowledge of it through its names
and attributes Pure Being, as such, has neither name nor attribute;
only when it gradually descends from its absoluteness and enters the
realm of manifestation, do names and attributes appear imprinted on
it Jili calls the simple essence, apart from all qualities and rela-
tions 'the dark mist' {al-ama). It develops consciousness by passing
loo THE MOSLEM WORLD
through three stages of manifestation, which modify its simplicity. The
first stage is Oneness (Ahadiya), the second is He-ness (Huwiya),
and the third is I-ness {Aniya). By this process of descent Absolute
Being has become the subject and object of all thought, and has re-
vealed itself as Divinity with distinctive attributes embracing the whole
series of existence Man in virtue of his essence, is the cosmic
Thought assuming flesh and connecting Absolute Being with the world
of Nature The Absolute having completely realized itself in
human nature returns into itself through the medium of human nature;
or more intimately, God and man become one in the Perfect Man —
the enraptured prophet or saint — whose religious function as a mediator
between man and God corresponds with his metaphysical function as
the unifying principle by means of which the opposed terms of reality
and appearance are harmonized Jili distinguishes three phases
of mystical illumination or revelation (tajalli) which run parallel, as
it were, to the three stages traversed by the Absolute in its descent to
consciousness. In the first phase, called the Illumination of the Names,
the Perfect Man receives the mystery conveyed by each of the names
of God In the second phase he receives the Illumination of the
Attributes and becomes one with them The third and last
phase is the Illumination of the Essence. Here the Perfect Man
becomes absolutely perfect. Every attribute has vanished, the Absolute
has returned unto itself Jili also holds that in every age the
Perfect Men are an outward manifestation of the essence of Mohammed,
which has the power of assuming whatever form it will."
Two appendices follow this essay. The first consists of extracts from
Jili's 'Ayniyya in the Arabic text. The second is some notes on the
Fususu '1-Hikam of Ibnu '1-Arabi, as the subject matter of this work
is closely related to al-Insanu 'l-Kamil.
The subject of the third essay is the Odes of Ibnu '1-Farid, who was
a native of Cairo, a. d. h 182-1235. In comparing the mystical poetry
of the Arabs and the Persians, Doctor Nicholson says, "The Arab has
no such passion for an ultimate principle of unity as has always dis-
tinguished the Persians and Indians. Jalalu 'd-Din Rumi writes as a
God-intoxicated soul, Ibnu '1-Farid as a lover absorbed in his own
feelings. While the Persian sees a pantheistic vision of one reality in
which the individual disappears, the Arab dwells on particular aspects
of the relation of that reality to himself This Reality, i. e., God
(or in some places Mohammed, conceived as the Logos) is the beloved,
whom the poet addresses and celebrates under many names — now as
one of the heroines of the Arabian Minnesong, now as a gazelle, or a
driver of camels, or an archer shooting deadly glances from his eye;
most frequently as plain He or She. The Odes retain the form, con-
ventions, topics, and images of ordinary love-poetry : their inner meaning
hardly ever obtrudes itself."
The following are interesting specimens of his passionate poetry and
his mystical conceptions:
"Beauty itself is mad with passion for him —
O friend that chid'st me, may I lack thy friendship!
Hadst thou his beauty seen — ne'er shalt thou see it —
That me enthralled, it surely had enthralled thee.
At a glimpse of him my wakefulness I pardon,
And 'This for that' I say to my aching eyeballs."
BOOK REVIEWS loi
"How wonderful is Time, which lays benefits on a man and proves
him by taking the gift as spoil!
O would that our bygone pleasure might return once more ! Then
would I freely give my life.
Alas, vain is the endeavour, and cut are the strands of the cord of
desire, and loosed is the knot of my hope.
'Tis torture enough that I pass the night in frenzy, with my
longing before me and Fate behind me."
"All thou beholdest is the act of one
In solitude, but closely veiled is he.
Let him but lift the screen, no doubt remains:
The forms are vanished, he alone is all;
And thou, illumined, knowest that by his light
Thou find'st his actions in the senses' night."
From the Ta'iyyatu '1-kubra, which is also called the Mystic's progress, are
the following:
263. I was ever She, and She was ever I, with no difference; nay, my
essence loved my essence.
264. There was nothing in the world except myself beside me, and no
thought of beside-ness occurred to my mind.
460. I was an apostle sent from myself to myself, and my essence was
led to me by the evidence of my own signs,
476. And in myself I beheld those who bowed in worship to my theatre of
manifestation, and I knew for sure that I was the Adam to whom
I bowed.
642. And in the whole creation there is none save me that speaks or sees
or hears.
616. And there was none of them (the former prophets) but had called his
people to the Truth, by grace of Mohammed, and because he was
Mohammed's follower.
733. And if the niche of a mosque is illuminated by the Koran, yet is no
altar of a church made vain by the Gospel.
E. E. ELDER.
The Four Gospels. Their Literary History and Their Special Character-
istics. By Maurice Jones, D.D. pp. 120. Society for Promoting Chris-
tian Knowledge, London, 1921.
A scholarly text-book on the Gospels, which we can recommend to
those who want to know the results of recent criticism in brief compass.
The conclusions are fairly conservative, and the material is presented
in such a way as to appeal to the reader. Regarding John's Gospel,
Doctor Jones concludes as follows:
"In some respects we have found that the historical value of St.
John's Gospel is superior to that of the Synoptists, and, on the whole,
I am inclined to think that the Fourth Gospel contains more strict
history than it is sometimes credited with, while I am perfectly con-
vinced that any conception of the life, work, and character of our Lord
Jesus Christ which does not take into account the Johannine record is
woefully incomplete and inadequate. In point of spiritual value St.
John's Gospel is unique and unapproachable, and it has, of all the
Gospels, made the deepest impression upon the soul of the Christian
Church."
Why Men Believe. The Groundwork of Apologetics. By Clement F.
Rogers, pp. 103. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. London.
Five lectures covering the modern method of approach to those who
are asking a reason for the faith that is in them. The first lecture
deals with the psychology of faith ; the second gives the argument from
beauty in nature and in art ; the third deals with reason and faith ; the
I02 THE MOSLEM WORLD
fourth sums up the argument from experience, and the concluding
lecture is on the claim of authority. The st}de is not simple, but the
argument direct and clear. We commend the volume to our fellow
missionaries. Although perhaps not suitable for translation, it will
afford many points for addresses and preaching to educated Moslems.
Aug. Perier. (i°) Yahia Ben Adi, un Philosophe arabe Chretien du X
Siecle — (2°) Petits traites apologetiques de Yahia ben Adi avec traduction
francaise. 2 vol. in-12. pp. 228 et 135. Paris, J. Gabalda et Paul
Geuthner, 1920.
A contribution to the history of Christianity in the Near East, and
its contact and conflict with Islam. The second part contains eight
theological and controversial essays by this Jakobite philosopher of the
loth century.
Ed. Driault. La Question d'Orient depuis ses origines jusqu'^ la Paix de
Sevres (1920) Paris, F. Alcan, pp. xv-479, 1921.
A summary of the historical events that led up to the present phase
of political complications in the Near East. The author in his con-
clusion expresses the hope that Constantinople may once more come into
possession of the Greeks.
Die Christologie des Islams, Ein Versuch iiber Leben, Personlichkeit
und Lehre Jesu Christi nach dem Koran und der orthodoxen Tradition,
Von Samuel M. Zwemer, D.D., vom verfasser genehmigte Ubersetzung
von Dr. Phil. E. Frick — Stuttgart Christliches Verlagshaus. — pp. 116, —
192 1.
This is the authorized translation of Zwemer's "The Moslem Christ,"
published in 191 2. The translation is complete, and in the introduction
Doctor Frick compares this work with earlier Christologies of the
Koran by Gerock (1839) and Sayous (1880). He characterizes it as
the first complete account of Christ according to Moslem Tradition.
The Originality of the Christian Message. By H. R. Mackintosh. Charles
Scribner's Sons, New York. 202 pp. $1.75 net.
A strong and vigorous presentation of the theme that is fundamental
to a passion for missions. The Professor of Systematic Theology, New
College, Edinburgh, writes with conviction and persuasion. He dis-
cusses the ideas common to Judaism, Paganism, and Christianity, such
as the ideas of God, Revelation, the doctrine of the Trinity, the divine
purpose, sin, and ethical conduct, and shows how the Christian con-
ception excels. The absolutely new in Christianity is clearly set forth,
as: the thought of God as a loving father, consciousness of forgiveness,
fellowship with God, trust, optimism, hope of immortality, the cross
with a power for redemption not possessed by legalism, Greco-Oriental
mysticism, and intellectualism. An entire chapter is given to Chris-
tianity as the absolute religion. But we marvel at the blind spot of
the writer. Neither in the argument nor in the illustrative material,
not even in the bibliography, otherwise so excellent, is there mention
of Islam. The Christian idea of God is compared with that in other
systems of thought, but Allah, who supplants Jehovah, is not con-
sidered. "The religions of India" apparently do not include Moham-
medanism. "Christianity (p. 166) has three great modern rivals."
And these are enumerated as Secularism, Judaism, and Buddhism. Has
Doctor Mackintosh nothing to say of that religion which displaced
BOOK REVIEWS 103
Christianity in its birthplace, destroyed it in North Africa, and defies
it in three continents? ''Nothing really so confirms a man's antecedent
belief in the finality of the Christian faith as the great venture of going
out with it in his hand (in his heart) into dark continents to face there
the best which other religions have accomplished. Christianity, in short,
is absolute if it dares to be so." Why then should the missionary in
Africa look in vain for his problem in this book?
L'Islam et la Politique des Allies. By Dr. Enrico Insabato. Paris,
Berger-Levrault, 12 francs. 1921.
The writer discusses the political issues at stake for European gov-
ernments as the aftermath of the war. His earlier book in German
entitled "Der Erloschende Halbmond," 191 1, revealed the inner his-
tory of the Turkish Empire before the Revolution in an array of
secret documents. (See review in the Moslem World^ Vol. I, p. 82.)
The present work reveals an equally astonishing knowledge and in-
sight into Islam without much sympathy for Christianity or missions.
TTie London Times summarizes the contents as follows:
"The author refers to the innumerable heresies which divide the
Dar-ul-Islam — even apart from the differences of the four schools of
thought accepted as being still within the pale of Sunni orthodoxy.
The aggressive puritanism of the militant Wahhabis, the esoteric lean-
ings of the Yemenite Zeidid, the views of the African Senussis and
their opponents, the Abadites, are as much apart from the doctrines of
the unquestionably orthodox as are those of the Shiah — to name but a
few of those enumerated by Doctor Insabato. And in almost every
case a spiritual difference of opinion has led to the establishment of a
temporal dominion — often bent upon propagating the special tenets
of the heretics at the sword's point, but sadly subversive of any political
unity among the Moslems, and distinctly inimical even to the narrower
theory of national unity among the Arabs.
''That the Moslems of today should be so prone to take decided views
upon interpretations of the religious teachings of their founder is an
indication that the driving force of their Faith is by no means ex-
hausted; and in an extremely interesting appendix contributed by the
editor of the Cairene journal El Arafat a. just pride is taken in the
remarkable success which has attended Moslem missionary effort in
Africa during the last decade in comparison with that made by Chris-
tian societies in the same field. Uncritical observers have been inclined
to attribute a dry formalism destitute of real spiritual life to Islam of
today; but Doctor Insabato produces ample proof of the vigor and
depth of the mystical influences which have pervaded it throughout the
centuries, and are by no means absent from it now. It must, however,
be remembered that this tendency to religious and politico-religious
schism, which throughout the pages of this interesting book appears as
a constant characteristic of the Arabs, both in Arabia and in the coun-
tries of their influence outside it, is a factor making for unrest in the
near future. The growth of Islam in Africa, where its combination of
mysticism and practicality may fire the tribes of the Bantus to a sudden
fervour of race-consciousness, already causes uneasiness among the Euro-
pean administrators in that continent; and, if the fundamental good
sense of Moslems, based upon their religious beliefs, acts as a brake
I04 THE MOSLEM WORLD
upon the wilder doctrines of the Bolshevists, the divergences of doctrine,
even among the Arabs of Arabia, go far to render doubtful the pos-
sibility of establishing a unified Arab State even in Mesopotamia
capable of holding its own against the political pressure from the North
which may be looked for from a revived Russia."
The Inward Way (at-Tariqat) . By the Rev. J. Takle. 66 pp. Christian
Literature Society for India. Madras, 1921.
Another valuable addition to the extensive C. L. S. Islamic series,
which every missionary to Moslems should possess and recommend.
The author attempts to lead the reader into the mystic way of the
Moslem Sufi, and onward to Jesus Christ. The various chapters are
entitled: "God Who is Our Home"; "Moslem Mysticism"; "The
Stages of the Inward Way"; "Progress toward Perfection"; "The
Perfect Spiritual Guide"; "Christ and Mystical Union"; and,
"Christian Attainment." In each chapter the Moslem idea and method
is used to unfold the deeper and more vital Christian parallel teachings.
The final chapter shows Paul as the true mystic, who lived a life by
faith, identified this new life with the Perfect Man, Jesus Christ, and
so attained by the way of the Cross to true union with God. Mr.
Takle has given us all a new method for presenting the old message
of reconciliation. The quotations are apt and accurate; the presenta-
tion of the subject, clear and succinct — in every way an admirable
little book. Z.
The New World of Islam. By Lothrop Stoddard, pp. 362. Price, $2.50.
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
This study of a great world theme, by the author of The Rising
Tide of ColoTj is marred as was his earlier work, by excluding from
the angle of vision the spiritual forces of Christianity in the work of
Christian missions. In every other respect the book is one of prime
importance to the student of present-day problems. The entire world of
Islam is in profound ferment. Mr. Stoddard believes that gigantic trans-
formations are in progress whose result must affect all mankind. He
describes, in his introduction, the decline and fall of the old Islamic
world which had sunk to its lowest depth of decrepitude in the eighteenth
century. The Wahhabi revival, he believes, was an indication of world-
wide reaction and that there is also today a rekindling of the fires of
religious faith in many lands. He sketches the rise and progress of
Pan-Islamism, traces the influence of the West and the political changes
that led to nationalism, as well as those economic changes which produce
social unrest and Bolshevist tendencies.
Mr. Stoddard thinks that the Asiatic Nationalistic Movement, at
one time fostered and aided by Bolshevism, has lately passed under a
cloud. Leaders, like Mustapha Kemal and the Amir of Afghanistan,
have no desire to see their own power swept away by Soviet revolutions
in their own lands, and the "Bolshevization" of Turkestan, Bokhara,
and other territories, has already filled them with apprehension. At the
same time, these nationalities are, in Mr. Stoddard's judgment, between
the devil and the deep sea. Theoretically opposed to communism,
they are being driven into the arms of Lenine by the brutal methods
of foreign conquerors like General Gouraud.
BOOK REVIEWS 105
Taken in connection with the general awakening of Asia, which has
come as the result of Western enlightenment, the recrudescence of
Moslem zeal is a portent that cannot be ignored. It may well be
charged with consequences vitally affecting the destiny of Europe and
Asia alike. Quite wisely, Mr. Stoddard does not attempt to predict
the exact course of a movement which is dominated by so many intangible
and incalculable elements of religious fanaticism. But he outlines the
present realities and future potentialities of a situation that may well
lead to another war, and ends by vividly sketching the setting such a
new world of Islam might furnish for the possible titanic struggle
between East and West.
A large part of the book is however retrospective and, except for
some minor inaccuracies, historical. He overestimates the number of
Moslems in the world by nearly fifty million. He holds that there is
"a widespread conviction among Moslems that Islam is entering on a
period of renewed glory." In this we believe he is mistaken. Islam
is more than a creed, it is a complete social system, a civilization, a
philosophy of life. As a creed there may be in it signs of revival and
vitality, but as a social system it cannot stand the light of civilization
or the impact of Western culture. The world of Islam has suffered
disillusion and has been driven to desperation, by the rumblings of an
earthquake and not by the rising of a dawn. It is astonishing that a
book containing so vast an amount of material illustrating the intellec-
tual, economic and social changes in the Near East should have scarcely
a reference to the work of Christian education. This with Christian
philanthropy has transformed the Near East, the Moslems themselves
being the judges.
Mr. Stoddard quotes the opinion of Prince Caetani, the Italian
Orientalists, as follows: "A convulsion has shaken Islamic and Oriental
civilization to its foundations. The entire Oriental world, from China
to the Mediterranean, is in ferment. Everywhere the hidden fire of
anti-European hatred is burning. Riots in Morocco, risings in Algiers,
discontent in Tripoli, so-called Nationalist attempts in Egypt, Arabia
and Syria, are all different manifestations of the same deep sentiment,
and have as their object the rebellion of the Oriental world against
European civilization."
In this volume, brilliant in style and scholarly in substance, there is
a vast amount of material illustrating the strength and the breadth of
this rising tide of unrest from China to Morocco, from Egypt to
Afghanistan. The reader is constantly made aware of the solidarity
of Islam, but the outlook is nearly always pessimistic, and leaves out
the only factor that can produce a new world of Islam, namely the
living forces of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No student of the Near
East can, however, neglect this volume. Z.
Le Dogme et la Loi de L'Islam; Histoire du Developpement Dogmatique
et Juridique de la Religion Musulmane. By I. Goldziher. Traduc-
tion de Felix Arin. Paris: Paul Geuthner. 1920. pp. 315. fr. 25.
The original of this most important contribution to the scientific study
of Islam appeared in German and was published in Heidelberg in 1910
under the title Vorlesungen iiber den Islam. The publication of the
translation has been delayed on account of the war. Certain additions
io6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
and modifications especially in the notes have been made by the author
who also read the proofs of the work except of the last portion. The
chapter headings are as follows: Mohammed et I'lslam, Developpe-
ment de la loi, Developpement dogmatique, Ascetisme et Sufisme, Les
sectes, Formations posterieures. These cover the first 251 pages; the
remainder of the book is occupied with critical notes. For the serious
student these notes are of the utmost value as they practically open up and
index all the recent available material on the sources of Islam and its
historical development. The original German edition or this transla-
tion should be in the library of every missionary student. S. M. Z.
Le Pilote des Mers de I'lnde, de la Chine, et de rindonesic, par Sihab
ad-din Ahmad Bin Maj id. dit : "Le Lion de la Mer" Texte Arabe. Re-
production Phototypique du Manuscrit 2292 et d'une partie du Manu-
scrit 2559 de la Bibliotheque Nationale par Gabriel Ferrand. Paris
Librairie Paul Geuthner. 1921. Price frs. 180.-.
This first volume on Arab and Portuguese navigators of the 15th and
1 6th centuries is to be followed by three others completing the work:
Volume 2 : Reproduction phototypique des instructions nautiques de
Sulayman al-Mahri (traites nautiques en prose du MS. 2559) soit 262
pages de texte arabe.
Volume 3 : Traduction avec commentaires des parties geographiques
des MS. 2292 et 2559 avec un important glossaire des termes nautiques
arabes.
Volume 4: Traduction de quelques anciens routiers portugais.
Burton wrote in 1854 that the sailors of Aden still recited a fatiha
in honor of Ibn Maj id the great navigator, and it is now established
that he was the Arab pilot who accompanied the Portuguese squadron
under Vasco de Gama in his voyages of discovery. The two Arabic
manuscripts reproduced in facsimile from the Bibliotheque Nationale
and translated are entitled: "Kitab-al-fawaid fi usul ilm al Bahr
WA 'L-Gawaid/' and "Hawiat-al-Ikhtisar fi usul ilm al-
Bihar." The last named is dated 1462.
The volumes throw much light on the history of navigation and
commerce, which under the Arabs even then extended from the East
Coast of Africa to China and the whole Indian Archipelago.
Les Institutions Musulmanes. By Gaudef roy-Demombynes. Paris : Ernest
Flammarion. 1921. pp. 192.
One in the well known series, Bibliotheque de Culture Generale, by a
Professor in the School of Oriental Languages. The ten chapters are
entitled: The Extent of Islam, its origin, the Sources of Moslem
Law, Dogma, the Five Religious Duties (2 chapters). Family Life,
Government, Economic Institutions, and Literature and the Arts. The
author has succeeded in crowding much accurate information on all these
topics into a small compass without becoming obscure or dull.
His sources of information are given in a carefully selected bibliog-
raphy, which is limited however, with a few exceptions, to French works.
The writer concludes that Islam has had its day of glory. It is a "re-
ligion mediocre," and was born among Arabs who have "traditions
anarchiques," and carried these with them as the germs of decay. Even
as an intellectual movement it is superficial and cannot meet present con-
ditions. We should nevertheless study it with sympathy seeking to com-
prehend what we cannot destroy. Z.
SURVEY OF PERIODICALS
Edited by Hollis W. Hering^ New York
I. GENERAL.
Bolshevism in Central Asia. Ikbal AH Shah. (The Edin-
burgh Review, London. July, 1921. pp. 136-146.)
A review of what the Bolshevist propaganda in Bokhara and
Afghanistan has accomplished, and an indication of how little
has been done to combat it. The significant catering by the
Bolshevists to the traditions and religious scruples of the Central
Asian peoples is noted, as well as the unscrupulous methods used
to stir up Moslem fanaticism against Europe.
The Bolshevist Menace in the Middle East. Sirdar Ikbal
Ali Shah. {The Contemporary Review, London. October,
1 92 1, pp. 500-506.)
A survey of the methods by which Bolshevism has gained a
decided triumph in the Middle East; and an outline of its extent.
After a study made during a prolonged sojourn in Afghanistan
and Bokhara, the conclusion became inevitable that the intensive
propaganda in Ajerbaijan, Bokhara, Turkestan, Persia, even in
Chinese Turkestan is successful through lack of a clear-cut policy
on the part of the Western Powers towards Turkey, the head
and fount of Islam.
L'Enseignement au Maroc. {UAfrique Frangaise, Paris.
September, 1921. pp. 279-283.)
Gives statistics of present conditions, and tendencies in the
plan for the future development of education. Considers the
general organization of the system; physical instruction; edu-
cation for the natives, the Jews, and the Europeans; and higher
education.
Palestine in Renewal. Patrick Geddes. ( The Contemporary
Review, London. October, 1921. pp. 475-484.)
Conclusions reached during a year in Palestine, spent in travel-
ling and planning with an eye to regional development. The
discussion centers chiefly on the reconstructive value of better
agriculture and its influence on the native Arab and Christian as
well as on the incoming Zionist. Closes with a fair analysis of
Zionist colonists and their adaptibility to changed conditions.
Palestine: the Land of the Past and the Future. Mary
Mond. {The Asiatic Review, London. October, 1921. pp.
594-608.)
107
io8 THE MOSLEM WORLD
A study of the various Jewish colonies, and the effects so far
of their establishment in Palestine. Describes (a) the land from
Egypt to Jerusalem; (b) the colonies and the cities of the coast;
and (c) the shepherd country of Galilee.
Peace and the Bagdad Railway. Damon. ( The Fortnightly
Review, London. October, 1921. pp. 542-562.)
A rather full survey of the history, the present condition, and
the future possibilities of the Bagdad railway. A grip on the
line, and its firm establishment as a trade route instead of as a
military one are deemed essential to the power which is to control
the former Turkish Empire.
Social Unrest and Bolshevism in the Islamic World.
Lothrop Stoddard. {Scribners Magazine j New York. August,
1921. pp. 16H169.)
The second of two significant articles dealing with the present
unrest in the Moslem world. Pointing out the two aims of
Bolshevism — the destruction of Western political and economic
supremacy, and the Bolshevizing of the Oriental masses — the
article outlines clearly the various successful moves to stir up
political, religious, and racial passions in Turkey, Persia, Afghan-
istan, and India.
II. ISLAM IN ARABIA.
Among the Yemen Arabs with a Camera. Captain Donald
McLeish. {Outward Bound , London. October, 1921. pp.
10-15.)
The Arabs were those of the coast town of Loheiya, South
Arabia; the pictures obtained were the result of heroic struggles
against prohibitive atmospheric conditions. Life in general, edu-
cation, administration of justice, and religious practices were
caught by the camera during visits on shore made at the special
invitation of the Great Man of the district.
The Arab Revival in the Middle East. F. H. Tyrrell.
{The Asiatic Review, London. October, 1921. pp. 609-614.)
An attempt to indicate the difficulties in the revival of Arab
kingdoms. Just enough history of the rise and fall of Moslem
power is given to show the significance of the present experiments
in the Hejaz and in Mesopotamia.
III. HISTORY OF ISLAM.
IV. KORAN, TRADITIONS, THEOLOGY.
V. RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
The Caliphate of Islam. Clair Price. {The American
Review of Reviews, New York. September, 1921. pp.
981-985.)
A clear, concise summary of what is meant by the ''program
of Sherifianism," the events leading to its development, the cause
SURVEY OF PERIODICALS 109
of the formation of the new Middle East Department of the
Colonial Office, and Islam's boycott of the former Sherif Hussein.
Modes of Life in the Moroccan Countryside. Jules Blache.
(The Geographical Review, N. Y. October, 1921. pp.
477-502.)
A fascinating description of the human aspects of countryside
life in Morocco as seen from the air, illustrated by aerial photo-
graphs. Treats of nomad and sedentary types and their distribu-
tion; rural and town life of the Meseta; the south of Morocco;
and the use (geographical and human) of the Moroccan
mountains.
Off Duty in Bagdad. Roland Gorbold. {Asia, N. Y.
October, 1921. pp. 836-842, 882.)
An interesting study of the impressions made on a member of
the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force by the city, its inhabitants,
and the quaint customs followed there. Aims rather at repro-
ducing the atmosphere of the place than at giving detailed de-
scriptions.
VI. POLITICAL RELATIONSHIPS.
England's Hand in the Near East. Henry C. Fowler, Jr.
{The American Review of Reviews, N. Y. October, 1921.
pp. 101-105.)
Purports to be a "clear and simple statement of the actual
situation underlying all the intrigues of British, French, Italian,
Greek, and Arabian politics in the former Turkish Empire."
Summary of an official report made by the author on his investi-
gations into conditions in Asia Minor.
Mangling Asia Minor. George R. Montgomery. {The
American Review of Reviews, N. Y. October, 192 1. pp.
93-101.)
**A brief account with maps of ten different treaties, all secret,
and many of them conflicting with each other, which the Entente
Powers have made with a view to dividing up Turkey among
themselves."
Mesopotamia's Claim on Britain. H. B. Usher. {The
Contemporary Review, London. September, 1921. pp.
322-328.)
Maintains the thesis that Great Britain is completely committed
to the tutelage of Mesopotamia until its people are able to fend
for themselves. Deals with the political rather than the economic
and commercial aspect of the problem, and points out the necessity
of coming to some stable understanding with the Nationalist
Turks, and of following a clear and consistent policy towards the
Arab world in general.
VII. MOHAMMEDAN MISSIONS.
Christian Peoples in Mohammedan Lands. Wilder P.
no THE MOSLEM WORLD
Ellis, M.D. {All the World, N. Y. October, 1921. pp.
210-214.)
The problem of the Armenians of Turkey, the Caucasus and
Northwest Persia; and of the Nestorians of Persia and the
mountain fastnesses of Turkey. Six years of terrible sufferings
and persecutions are briefly indicated to drive home to the great
Christian nations that their responsibility to these peoples is still
acute and cannot be dropped.
The Delegation to Palestine. E. R. Kenyon. (The Church
Missionary Review, London. September, 192 1, pp. 226-237.)
Written to make clear the general circumstances of C. M. S.
work in Palestine, and to depict conditions as they appeared to
the Delegation. The relations between the Palestinian Church
Council and the C. M. S. are particularly noted, while the im-
portance of a clearly defined policy in regard to medical and
educational work is emphasized.
Realignment in Asia Minor. John E. Merrill. {Missionary
Review of the World, N. Y. October, 1921. pp. 755-759.)
After the terrific international and inter-racial upheavals in the
Near East due to the war, it is necessary to analyze the mission-
ary situation very carefully. Have the events of the last few years
constituted in any sense a preparation for a spiritual advance?
The attempt is here made to answer this question by considering
(a) the Christian suffering and its effect on the home church as
well as on the Christians of the Near East; and (b) the cause
of and the help for Moslem dissatisfaction.
Syria: Suffering — Sacrificing — Succeeding. George H.
Scherer. {All the World, N. Y. October, 1921. pp.
215-219.)
Reviews the recent work and the present situation of the Syria
Mission of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. The author
has been stationed at Suk-el-Gharb, Lebanon.
What Shall We Do with the Moros? Frank C. Laubach,
Ph.D. {The Envelope Series, Boston. October, 11921. pp.
3-23.)
The Moros, the virile Mohammedan population of the Philip-
pines, are now open to Christianization thanks to skillful handling
by the Americans. A brief history of their contact with civiliza-
tion is given as a background and justification of the conclusion
that the Moros form the key to the Mohammedan problem.
What the Arab Thinks of the Missionary. Paul Harrison.
{The Missionary Review of the World, N. Y. October, 1 92 1,
pp. 759-760.)
A brief analysis of the attitude of mind of the average Arab of
the coast cities, where the missionary is known, and of the inland
Arab, who has only heard of him.
TheMoslemWorld
VOL. XII APRIL, 1922 No. 2
EDITORIAL
VANQUISHED YET VICTORIOUS.
'^Ours is not a conflict," said St. Paul, '^with mere flesh
and blood; but with the despotisms, the empires, the
forces that control and govern this dark world — the spir-
itual hosts of evil arrayed against us in the heavenly war-
fare." The Apostle, Paul, was not superstitious, nor a
slave to the animistic beliefs so common in his day even
among the Jews; but he was ever conscious of the reality
of two great spiritual forces constantly engaged in desper-
ate conflict for the souls of men. The Evangelists, especi-
ally Luke, as Harnack shows, have depicted the life of
Jesus from the Temptation onward as an uninterrupted
conflict with the devil. The history of missions in its
spiritual aspect is the continuation of this conflict.
Whether among animistic tribes in Malaysia and Africa,
or among the Brahmans of India, or the Buddhists of
Japan, or in Moslem lands, every faithful worker has
been conscious in a greater or less degree of this struggle.
Face to face with these unseen powers prayer is not a pas-
time, but such a wrestling, a warfare, an agony of soul for
the salvation of others, that the Apostle of the Gentiles
characterized it in his case as birth-pangs till Christ came
to His own in the heart of his converts.
Ill
iia THE MOSLEM WORLD
Islam and Christianity have often been described in
terms of social ideals, standards of civilization, or polit-
ical conquest; but primarily they are spiritual forces in
their origin, their history, their goal. Whatever may be
our theory of the origin of Islam, its originality or its
syncretism, no one can rise from a careful perusal of the
earliest documents without being conscious that the hero
prophet, as Carlyle puts it: "came as lightning out of
heaven; the rest of men waited for him like fuel, then
they were aflame." The creed of Islam gave strength to
the arm that grasped its sword, and does so today.
We admit the stupendous strength of the spiritual
forces that exist and exert their influences in the world of
Islam, but it is perfectly evident that these forces are in-
compatible in their aims, and irreconcilable in their
ideals, with those of Christianity. The two religions have
always been rivals, not allies. That this is unavoidable in
the intellectual sphere is clear even from a casual perusal
of the Koran. Socially also they are diametrically op-
posed to each other, both in their history and present-day
program. Still more are they in conflict because of the
deep religious convictions of their votaries. The more
one studies Moslem life, knows it, and learns to love in-
dividual Moslems, the more one realizes that at their
heart and core the two systems of thought and life are ir-
reconcilable. The two may agree to live and let live, but
they cannot merge or speak a common tongue.
This is at once the problem and the tragedy of missions
to Moslems. For we cannot hide the fact that Islam has
defeated Christianity in the very lands where it took its
rise and manifested its early power. We do not refer
merely to political conquest or to the superseding of
Christian art, architecture, literature and civilization
by those of Islam; but to the passionate allegiance of mil-
lions of human hearts these thirteen centuries to Moham-
med.
The remnant of the Church of Christ in the Near East
and North Africa, had they still the spirit of the martyrs
EDITORIAL 113
as witnessed for Christ, might well raise the battle-cry of
the Dauntless :
"More than half beaten, but fearless,
Facing the storm and the night;
Breathless and reeling, but tearless,
Here in the lull of the fight,
I who bow not but before Thee,
God of the fighting Clan,
Lifting my fists I implore Thee,
Give me the heart of a Man!
"What though I live with the winners,
Or perish with those who fall ?
Only the cowards are sinners,
Fighting the fight is all.
Strong is my foe — he advances!
Snapt is my blade, O Lord!
See the proud banners and lances!
Oh spare me this stub of a sword !"
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, the only
weapon that saved the Oriental Churches from complete
extinction. Where that Word existed in the common
tongue a remnant was saved. But where, as in Arabia
and the Barbary States of North Africa, they did not pos-
sess the New Testament in the language of the common
people, the Church was extinguished. This again proves
we are dealing with forces that are more than political or
social or economic.
The Bible among Moslems is the great hope of their
regeneration; and yet its very distribution and interpre-
tation is only the beginning of the conflict. Nay, it is a
declaration of war — a collision of principles. Every con-
vert is an apostate. Islam in its fundamental law regard-
ing apostacy breathes a spirit of intolerance. The doors
of the vast temple reared by the Prophet of Arabia only
swing inward and not outward. Anyone can easily be-
come a Moslem by repeating the creed. But once a Mos-
lem, always a Moslem. The door is shut, barred and
barbed against all exit. It lacerates those who would be
free.
Every convert from Islam is therefore an anomaly to
114 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Moslems, but a triumph of grace and moral courage to
Christians. Dare we ask how many living Moslem con-
verts are there to-day? We venture the statement. In
Malaysia among Pagan-Moslems over forty thousand are
counted; in India and China perhaps ten thousand more.
This is encouraging. But in the old Moslem lands of
North Africa and Western Asia the numbers who have
dared to break away are pitifully small. In all North
Africa including Egypt there are perhaps less than three
hundred living converts. In Arabia less than fifty; in
Persia less than two hundred. In Syria, Turkey and
Palestine even smaller numbers. Mr. Findlay Andrew
writes from Western China: "Islam has often been re-
ferred to as the Challenge to Christian Missions. ^Once
a Hwei-hwei (Moslem), always a Hwei-hwei', may
rightly be said to be a direct challenge to the Church of
Christ today. During the past years a few Hwei-hwei
have been reached with the Gospel, and after a profession
of faith have been accepted either as Church members or
as enquirers. The number has, however, been very small,
and of those who ^have kept the Faith' only about one re-
mains in Church fellowship at the time of writing."
Is then the Cross defeated? Must we admit that the
Gospel is not the power of God unto salvation to every-
one that believes among Moslems? Victory will come
by advancing on our knees, with dauntless faith, and in a
hope that refuses to be baffled. Heroism is tested on the
battlefield, not in the camp or the barrack-room. The
Gibraltars and Verduns of the non-Christian world chal-
lenge our valor, when circumstances are most discourag-
ing. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. An army
may appear vanquished on the very eve of being victor-
ious.
Cairo. Samuel M. Zwemer.
CHRIST AND CONTROVERSY
The perennial question of the relation between these
two, especially in dealing with Moslems, has been again
raised by Dr. Sherwood Eddy in his article on ^'The
Christian Approach in the Near East," in the April num-
ber of the International Review of Missions. It is worthy
of further discussion, and in default of being a missionary
actually now in the field, I offer these considerations.
The too brief sketch given by Dr. Eddy of his recent
work among Moslems and Christians in Egypt and
Turkey is much more than interesting: it warms the
heart and strengthens the faith and kindles the hope of
the lover of Christ and His Kingdom, and it calls forth
earnest prayer for an ever increasing blessing on the ef-
forts of this God-called evangelist. During five weeks in
Egypt and four weeks in Turkey, Dr. Eddy spoke to many
thousands of the educated classes, including a consider-
able number of Moslems, and he found that a construc-
tive message of God in Christ and the call to disciple-
ship met with a remarkable response, apparently without
the emergence of those controversial questions which so
frequently bar or deflect the impact of the gospel mes-
sage. On this Dr. Eddy bases a strong appeal to abandon
the polemic method which has been tried and found want-
ing for the eirenic approach, the positive presentation of
Christ as the Saviour without mention of the points where-
in the Moslem doctrine of Christ or any other tenet of
Islam differs from the Gospel. A group of workers
which met at the close of the month of meetings advocated
the application of the same principle to literature, in-
cluding the maxim: '^Mohammed will have to be left
severely alone"; they added: ''The only literature for
Moslems which should be suffered to remain is literature
of a suasive informatory type, e. g., invitations to read
115
ii6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the Bible, studies of aspects of the redemptive work of
Christ."
The case seems a simple one on general principles.
Religion, which claims to be the influence that binds men
to God, ought to be the most effective power for uniting
them with one another, yet in practice how largely it has
been and is a potent source of disunion! Controversy is
that aspect of religious conviction which chiefly promotes
strife, therefore do away with controversy. But the situ-
ation is not so simple either in the New Testament, to
which Dr. Eddy appeals, or in contemporary work among
Moslems.
To take Scripture. When Dr. Eddy writes of our Lord
and His Apostles "they were not debaters, but witnesses,"
he overlooks some clear features of their portrayal in the
New Testament. In the Synoptical Gospels Jesus is re-
peatedly seen in controversy with Pharisees and Sadducees
alike, and at the bar of the high priest the supreme con-
troversy as to His divine sonship is pressed to the point of
death. In St. John's Gospel, still more. He is engaged
in long-drawn controversy with "the Jews." St. Paul at
Athens "reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and in
the market-place every day with them that met with him."
At Ephesus he reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus,
and he will be a unique missionary to Moslems in the
twentieth century who can escape from discussion with
them on the doctrines and practices which they have in-
herited from the Jew, and according to the logic which
they received from the Greek; assuming that he follows
up his message by daily personal contact with them in
their own language and the characteristic atmosphere of
their own thought.
It is here, I venture to suggest, that we come across the
limitations of the eirenic principles, which Dr. Eddy so
strongly and persuasively advocates. If the words
"Christian approach" are used in a strict sense of the first
presentation of the gospel message, there are few mis-
sionaries who would not agree that this must be positive
CHRIST AND CONTROVERSY 1 1 7
and not controversial. And this method is specially suited
to short courses of evangelistic addresses, such as those
under consideration. I have myself taken part in such
meetings which were held in Lahore, especially for Mos-
lem students. These were attended in great numbers, and
the addresses were afterwards followed by private infor-
mal discussions in a smaller room, at which special diffi-
culties were raised and explained. But as soon as the ques-
tion is asked: ^'Who is this Jesus whom I am to trust for
salvation?" others inevitably follow: ''What is His rela-
tion to the earlier prophets? to God? to Mohammed?"
The seeker first clings to the idea that somehow he can
hold to Christ and Mohammed as saviours ; then the pain-
ful question forces itself to the front: Christ or Moham-
med? That so great an issue should be decided without
marshalling the issues on either side is impossible in the
case of the thoughtful seeker, and that marshalling is con-
troversy.
In this sense the method of controversy, informed by
the Spirit of Christ, and carried on by men whose holiness
of life enforced their message, has not been found want-
ing, either in preaching or literature. In 1854 Karl Gott-
lieb Pf ander and Thomas Valpy French met two Moslem
scholars, Rahmatullah and Wazir Khan in discussion at
Agra. The debate lasted for two days, and, as often hap-
pens, both sides claimed the victory. Some years passed,
then two of the younger scholars who had helped the
Moslem champions came out for Christ. One of them
was Imad ud-Din, of Panipat and Amritsar, who gave
himself to the work of literature, and carried on for many
years a trenchant polemic against Islam, till at length he
felt that the ground had been covered, and betook himself
to work for the edification of the Church. His style of
controversy is uncompromising. He once remarked to
me of it: "I want to make the Mussulman feel on what
a kacha (weak) foundation his faith is resting." But he
was very far from leaving out the message of Christ as the
loving Saviour who had brought peace to his own soul.
ii8 ^ THE MOSLEM WORLD
In the various conversations of educated Moslems that I
have personally known, the writings of Dr. Imad ud-Din
come in at one stage or another, sometimes at the very
beginning. The other young assistant at the Agra dispu-
tation was Maulawi Safdar Ali, afterwards a government
official. He, after his baptism, wrote the Niyaznama or
Respectful Letter, the gentle, though by no means indeci*
sive, style of which is in marked contrast to the pointed
challenge of Imad ud-Din. That work too has been most
useful in leading Moslems to Christ, but it would be most
difficult to say which of these two sons of controversy has
been the more used in this way, except that Imad ud-Din
covered a wider field. One of the two leaders in the Agra
disputation. Bishop French, did not write much; his in-
fluence was chiefly that of the teacher and the saint. Dr.
Pfander, on the other hand, was the author of several
weighty controversial books. The chief of them is Mizan
ul'Haqq, or the Balance of Truth, which has remained
the leading work in the controversy ever since. Origin-
ally written in German, it was translated into English,
Persian, Urdu, Marathi, Turkish, Arabic, and it may be,
other languages that I do not know of. Of late years it
has been revised and brought up-to-date by Dr. Tisdall,
and published in English by the Religious Tract Society,
London, who generously furnish free copies to mission-
aries who need it for their work. With equal candor
and courtesy Dr. Pfander here sets forth the authenticity
of the Old and New Testament, and the principal doc-
trines contained in them, followed by ^'a candid inquiry
into the claim of Islam to be God's final revelation." I
can remember no conversion of a thoughtful Moslem in
which this book has not played some part. Recently, we
hear, it is being eagerly read in Palestine. As a matter
of experience, no less than of reason, controversy of the
right kind has had, and is likely to retain, an essential place
in missionary work among Moslems, as among other re-
ligions also. After all, a man does not elect to follow one
leader rather than another because of their similarities,
CHRIST AND CONTROVERSY 1 19
but because of their differences, and if we call upon a man
to love God who has revealed His love in Christ, we call
upon him to love God with his mind as well as with his
heart.
But to maintain this is not to say that Dr. Eddy's warn-
ing is not timely and useful. Just because the issue be-
tween Christianity and Islam is so plain, and the argu-
ment for the Biblical revelation as compared with the
Koranic so irrefragable, there is real danger of our work-
ing mainly on the line of intellectual conviction, and a
conversion based primarily on reason, however sound the
arguments, is unstable, though, or because, it produces a
keen and effective type of controversialist. I think of one
such case, a man of keen nimble intellect, and in his grade
one of our best teachers. He had arrived at conversion
not without personal influence, but by a clear logical
process. He frequently assisted in bazar preaching, by
preference in the discussion that would come up, do what
we might to be ''constructive." I still see the contemptu-
ous smile with which he would produce his Koran and
demolish the objector with a well chosen passage. But
after some years there came monetary difficulty, quarrels
with the missionary and other Christians, social pressure
and offer of preferment and he fell away. The conver-
sion that has no element of passion in it, whether of sor-
row for sin or of love for Christ, lacks the deep root that
can maintain life under adverse influences. When these
are brought to bear, it is not over difficult for the convert
by reason only to add to his previous stock another argu-
ment which will serve to show that the first are modified
by new considerations.
How then can this response of the soul to God be awak-
ened in the Moslem or any other man? From the human
side only through a divine desire in the messenger mani-
fested in a true human fellowship. The Father seeketh;
the Son of Man came to seek and to save; the Spirit and
the Bride say: Come, take of the water of life freely;
and that is life in all its human, as well as divine, relations.
lao THE MOSLEM WORLD
Here, surely, we see the secret of the influence of Dr.
Eddy's testimony. The Oriental perceives a man who
sympathizes with his aspirations and ideals, who feels
where he is galled by failure and thwarted by impotence,
and who wants to tell him the secret of the power that he
has found available in his own like needs, so the message
of the incomparable Prince of Life gains a footing not
only in his mind but in his heart, and that assuredly will
be the attitude in which he may hopefully enter on the
painful struggle which will generally follow. This
method was the one followed by the greatest evangelist of
Moslems that I have known, Rowland Bateman, of Nar-
owal. His approach was not without discussion, but
more through plain teaching of the Bible, and most
through human fellowship in games and sports, in daily
avocations, in personal service at times of sickness and
other need, but he never urged or even suggested baptism,
nor discussed the sacrament, till it was asked for with un-
mistakable desire to be united to Christ. The fruits of
that method may be seen today in leading members of the
Church in the Punjab.
But, having said this, there remains a danger to be
guarded against in stressing the constructive presentation
of the message to Moslems as if it had no limitations. I
say this because I have myself experienced the danger,
and seen others do so. Seeing that the Moslem acknowl-
edges the authority of the Old and New Testaments, at
least in theory, and that the proof of their genuineness as
against the Koranic perversions is so very plain, it is easy
for the missionary to say that Mohammed must be left
severely alone and to ride ofif on a purely scriptural mes-
sage without considering the reasons why, to the people
whom he wants to draw to Christ, Mohammed is the last
of the prophets who has superseded Him. It requires
much less sweat of brow and brain to do this than to write,
or even follow the argument of, an article like "Mo-
hammed without Camouflage" on the character of the
Prophet by Canon Gairdner in this quarterly (Vol. IX,
CHRIST AND CONTROVERSY 121
No. I ) . But any one who will read that article with care,
will see how needful it is to have this side of the truth ex-
hibited in its place, as well as the picture of the Christ in
His winning power. If we want the Moslem, as we do, to
share with us the best possession that we have, then faith-
fulness to fact must be an essential element.
Happily it is not necessary that controversy should be
only destructive. One of my ablest and most successful
colleagues was an ex-Moslem Panjabi, who had come
to a knowledge of the truth in the first instance by a
study of the New Testament given him by his master to
help him in confuting the Christians. He was always a
model of courtesy and fairness in his preaching and con-
versations with Moslems, and later as an ordained man
he was repeatedly invited to address a congregation of
Moslems in their mosque. Being challenged by a town
maulawi on a certain occasion to a public disputation in
his mosque, he agreed, but only on condition that there
should be no thrust and counter-thrust of argument, but
that first a subject should be selected, such as salvation
from sin, and that the maulawi and the padri in turn
should each expound for five minutes the teaching of his
scripture on it. The result soon showed the emptiness of
the one as compared with the other, and the sun was
barely set when the maulawi announced that it was high
time for evening prayers,^ and that urgent business would
prevent resumption of the discussion. This symposium
method is, I believe increasingly in use among both
Christians and non-Christians, and gives scope for the
constructive elements. The discussion, the lecture, the
simple address, the friendly talk — each has its fruitful
place in the evangelistic message provided that the one
Spirit animates all.
What I have written has reference largely to Indian
conditions. Perhaps it may be supplemented by expe-
riences from other quarters.
London. H. U. WEITBRECHT StANTON.
iThe evening prayer may be said at any time till the last glow has faded from the sky.
THE BIBLE AMONG MOSLEMS
The great Bible Societies by their constitution have an
opportunity that is unique for helping the Moslems of all
lands. They do not publish any human interpretations of
the Bible; they do not pronounce upon the dogmatic be-
liefs and ecclesiastical divisions of the Christian Church;
they do not criticize the non-Christian systems and relig-
ions of the w^orld. Their w^ork is entirely positive and
constructive. Believing that God reveals Himself in the
Bible, and that the men who v^rote it were indefinably in-
spired, they seek only '^to encourage the wider circulation
of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment."
In approaching Moslems the Societies' representatives
do not antagonize them by urging the relative merits
of Christianity and Islam. They say in effect ^^Here are
two books — the Koran which you believe to be sacred, and
the Bible which the Koran recommends you to read — we
beg you to read them both reverently and prayerfully, and
decide for yourselves which is more helpful." The Bible
Societies trust to the principle of the survival of the fittest.
They are prepared like Elijah to put the Bible and Koran
on two altars and to say ^'The God — Jehovah or Allah —
that answereth by fire, let him be God."
How far this line of approach is effective may be
gauged by an examination of the records of the Bible
Societies. Not having any records of the work of other
societies among Moslems at hand, we limit ourselves to
illustrations taken from the reports of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, and those for the last three years
only, that is, since the close of the great war in 191 8.
The task of selling Scriptures among Moslems is not
one to be lightly undertaken. It involves much weariness
and hardship, the risk of being misunderstood, the pos-
sibility of chastisement, imprisonment and even death,
122
THE BIBLE AMONG MOSLEMS 123
No man is likely to give his life to this work who does
not love Moslems, being constrained by the love of Christ.
Benjamin Badal, whose death was reported over a year
ago, is a fine specimen of the type of man who responds to
the call. He joined the Society's staff as a colporteur in
Persia forty years ago. In the early years of his service
he was on one occasion enticed into a house and there
bastinadoed by Moslems so cruelly that his swollen and
bleeding feet could scarcely carry him away. In 1894
Benjamin was given the position of superintendent col-
porteur, which enabled him to use more freely the ex-
perience he had gained. Frequently he had to be away
from home for about nine months in the year. He has
travelled through the most disturbed and dangerous parts
of Persia, everywhere conversing with Moslems and Jews
and selling little Gospels and Testaments in the vulgar
tongue. Again and again he has been robbed and as-
saulted, and beaten. When persecuted in one city he
would flee to another. Once he was cast into prison at Is-
pahan on a false charge of murdering a Moslem, and taken
thence to Teheran under guard, with heavy chains around
his neck. After being kept some time a captive, he was
tried, proved innocent and released. In 191 2 Benjamin
had charge of our Depot at Kezd, where in conversation
with a lady missionary he confessed that everywhere in
Persia he found bigotry on the wane; adding ^'I did ask
God to help me lift up Christ, that they might look on
Him and be saved." At the age of seventy-five, Benjamin
was still busily engaged in colportage until the last month
of his life. Near the end he fell into the hands of robbers,
who seized all that he possessed, and left him seriously
wounded. The courage, fortitude and patience of this
faithful follower of Christ, who toiled on for so long
through hardship and sufifering, are the finest note and
comment on the books he sold, and have again and again
commanded the respect and admiration of Moslems.
There are other colporteurs of the type of Benjamin
Badal. At Kum, which is a sacred city of the Moslems of
124 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Persia, one colporteur sold over fifty volumes in a couple
of days: but he added "I was beaten thrice, as the people
took me for a Bahai" — a heretical Moslem mystic. In a
village on the Lebanon, Colporteur Abd-el-Messiah
C^the slave of Christ") was assaulted by a Druse, who
dislocated his left arm. The impression made by the
faithfulness of such men is not lost upon the Moslems.
After selling a Turkish Bible in a coffee house at Calata,
a colporteur heard the following conversation between
two Mohammedans: ''You see that man — he is God's
policeman; he searches daily for those who have no
Bibles, when he finds such a man he insists on his buying
a Bible, and if he does not buy, he reports him to God in
prayer."
It is true, the colporteur often meets with opposition,
but it is also true that he meets with much encouragement.
Since it began its work the British and Foreign Bible
Society alone has circulated 1,662,461 volumes of the
Scriptures in Arabic; 429,180 in Persian; and 306,362
in Osmanli. These books have mainly gone into the
hands of Moslems, and perhaps almost as many volumes
again have been distributed in other Moslem languages.
A survey of the field shows that there is no diminution of
sales in recent years.
The depot at Constantinople was open throughout the
war. Fewer Moslems than usual entered, but for the
first time in its history Turkish ladies came to ask for
Scriptures — among them there seems to be more earnest-
ness of spirit and a desire for spiritual things. Turkish
soldiers, too, would come, and on one occasion a Turkish
general came, and bought a large number of New Testa-
ments and Scripture portions for distribution among his
men. The month of Ramadan was the colporteur's most
profitable time — he had very good sales, and often quiet
talks with Turks, and especially with Turkish officers.
Last year Egypt reported that from Tanta alone 21,137
volumes were sold by colporteurs among fellaheen in the
villages of the Delta. In the Sudan the demand is more
THE BIBLE AMONG MOSLEMS 125
marked. George Kaoustos wrote in 1919, "In comparing
Moslems of the Sudan with those of Egypt, my ex-
perience is that the former are not nearly so fanatical.
Not only do the Sudanese purchase the Scriptures and
read them, but they will eagerly listen to the reading
of the Book, and often one meets with men who, not being
able to read, purchase the Book, and keep it for someone
to read to them. At one place I was greatly cheered by
selling a Bible to a personage so important that the people
swear by his name." In 1920 the same colporteur re-
ported a similar experience: "The Sudanese are a very
interesting people, with a keen desire to know the Gospel.
Frequently men will travel a long way to secure a copy
of the Scriptures While we are resting there is much
knocking and calling. One man came for a Bible, and
when he saw the Book in large type he was immensely
pleased, and carried it off with a big smile of satisfaction.
Another bought a Testament, saying, "This will be a
great blessing to my house." Another seeing the Bible
in Arabic said, "This is the Book I have been looking for
for a long time." When he travels by train, the colport-
eur reads aloud, while the people crowd about him, and
they listen, fascinated by the miracles of our Lord.
In Morocco, during 1920, 7,386 volumes were sold to
Moslems, and the demand is scarcely less along the Med-
iterranean littoral, though among the Moslems in South-
Africa sales are few, and made with difficulty.
From Mesopotamia comes the report: "Tousef Keeb is
a good colporteur, and when he is dealing with Moslems
knows how to quote from the Koran with telling effect
such passages as testify to the truth of the Scriptures.
Both Jews and Moslems are buying, and in some instances
a real desire has been clearly shown to know what the
Gospel means."
India is a fruitful field, with a large circulation of
Scriptures among Mohammedans. In the North they
"seem more anxious to purchase than the Hindus."
While some Indian troops were passing through Port
126 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Said "we noticed one tall Panjabi Moslem, who kept
bringing his friends to buy books, such as he had himself
bought there during a previous visit."
Of Malaya we read, "Most Malays know little or noth-
ing of Islam, though they profess to be Moslems. We
now find them everywhere ready, nay eager, to buy the
Gospel, whereas a few years ago it was most difficult to sell
them the Scriptures." During 1918, in languages used
by Moslems 78,646 books were circulated. At Palem-
bang, at first only five schoolmasters were willing to allow
the colporteur to sell Gospels to the Mohammedan boys
in their school ; but later on he was able to get one of these
gentlemen to go with him to the other three schools, where
he quickly convinced the headmaster that the teaching
contained in the Injil was beneficial, and not injurious to
their scholars, with the result that these schools were also
opened to him.
Next to India, Java has the largest Moslem population
of any country in the world. The people are more than
ever willing to purchase the Scriptures. As a rule they
shun the missionaries, and refuse to enter a Christian
place of worship ; but the Book in their own language ap-
peals to them immensely. With this they can retire to
their huts and read quietly, free from the prying eyes of
their neighbors. The value which they set on the Koran
inclines them to appreciate the offer of the Scriptures.
There is no feature of Christian work among Moslems
more cheering than the readiness of the people to pur-
chase copies of the Scriptures. The questions may be put,
"What is their motive in buying, and with what effect do
they read?" Of motives it is difficult to speak. A Moor-
ish lad said to the depot keeper at Tangier, "I don't want
to forget what they taught me at the Raymond Lull Or-
phanage about the Saviour, so I have come to buy a
Gospel." Surely there are many who hear a little and
thirst for more. In Persia, one old man in a flowing robe
fan after a colporteur, crying, "O bookseller, O book-
seller! God has told me in a dream to buy the Injil/'
THE BIBLE AMONG MOSLEMS 127
After all there is a light which lighteth every man that
Cometh into the world.
A Moslem mullah who belonged to Nishapur, in Per-
sia, gave the following testimony at his baptism: "My
grandfather was the head of a certain sect of Islam at
Herat, in Afghanistan. When I was a boy, my father
once took me to India, where I met a missionary doctor
who talked to me about his own faith, and his words I
have never forgotten. As a young man I felt dissatisfied
with my own religion, and searched here and there to find
something better — but in vain. Six years ago there came
to Nishapur a man selling books. He told me that I
should read them for myself. So I bought a large book,
and began to read. I had not gone far when I realized
that it was for this that I had been looking so long. It
satisfied the hunger of my heart; and three years ago I
believed in Jesus Christ."
Mr. Titus, of the Methodist Episcopal Mission, Mor-
adabad, writes ; "During last year a young Mohammedan
came and asked for baptism. I examined him, and found
him quite well versed in gospel teaching and very sin-
cere. On enquiry I learned that he had first become ac-
quainted with Christ through reading a second-hand copy
of the New Testament, which he had purchased two years
previously from a book seller in Naini Tal. His mind
had become wonderfully opened by the leading Christ-
ian truths ; and although a son of a wealthy Moslem, he
was not in the least bigoted. We put him on probation
for three months. At the end of that time he insisted on
baptism, even though it meant that he would have to give
up his home and future prospects. He was baptized at
a Sunday evening service, and although his parents and
friends were very angry at first, they have since taken
him back, and he is being used of God to sow the good
seed among the Mohammedans in a very difl5cult city."
From Agra we hear of a young man who is a convert
from Islam, and attributes his conversion to the perusal
of a pice copy of St. John's Gospel, which a younger
138 THE MOSLEM WORLD
brother purchased and brought home. From Rawalpindi
we have this account of a young convert from Islam. He
first became interested in Christianity through reading a
New Testament, which he had purchased from a mission
worker. He became convinced of its truth, but fearing
the opposition of his relatives, he determined to live as a
Christian secretly, yet could find no peace of heart. One
day he read the words, "No man, having lighted a candle,
putteth it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house." Thereupon
he threw his fears to the winds, and decided at all costs
openly to confess his faith in Jesus Christ. He was intro-
duced to a European missionary, who finally baptised
him. In spite of much persecution he has since witnessed
a good confession for Christ.
Another young Mohammed in the Punjab recently
came requesting to be baptised. He attributed his con-
version to reading a copy of the Urdu New Testament,
which he found with other property belonging to his
father, who had recently died.
Two other incidents must for the present suffice to il-
lustrate Bible work among Moslems. The first has a les-
son for Christians whose prayers for Bible work are
needed. At Omdurman a colporteur came upon an aged
Moslem, who some time before had purchased a Bible in
Arabic. The old man was seated by the side of the street,
reading his Bible with evident pleasure. He expressed
his thanks, and said; "May great grace be upon the So-
ciety that circulates this precious Book." The second story
points a moral to the Moslems. In Persia a certain Sayid,
wearing a green turban, which denotes a descendant of
the Prophet, asked a colporteur; "What is the purpose
of selling these books so cheap"? Whereupon another
Moslem, standing at the door of his house, gave the an-
swer; "They have no other purpose except to lead men
to God."
London, England, JOHN H. RiTSON.
MYSTICISM AND SAINT WORSHIP IN INDIA
To think of India is to think of Mysticism. India is
the home of the mystic, and when we associate this
thought with Islam, one naturally wonders just what con-
tribution Hindu mysticism has made to that of Moham-
medanism in the long centuries of contact that they have
had with each other. What this contribution has been by
way of thought and practice is not the purpose of our
inquiry at present, however interesting such an investiga-
tion might be; but rather to indicate the main features
of popular mysticism as found at the present day in
Indian Islam.
There are no doubt practical mystics belonging to the
faith of Islam who are not members of any darwesh fra-
ternity, or religious order, but they are the exception
rather than the rule. These fraternities are the outward
organizations which keep Sufiism alive among the masses
in India, and one encounters their lay members and
leaders everywhere and on all occasions. The butcher,
the baker, the mason, the carpenter, the school-master,
the water-carrier, the tailor and the house-contractor are
all among those in the ordinary walks of life who belong
to one or other of the various orders of faqirs that are ac-
tive in India.
The Mohammedan of modern English education is sel-
dom found associated with such organizations. He is a
rationalist in religion, with scant time for "mystics."
The pronouncement of Dr. S. M. Iqbal, of Lahore, some
years ago, in the Hindustan Review is typical of this at-
titude. Says Dr. Iqbal: "Is the organic unity of Islam
intact in this land? Religious adventurers set up differ-
ent sects and fraternities, ever quarreling with one an-
other; and then there arc castes and sub-castes like the
Hindus! Surely we have out-Hindued the Hindu him-
129
I30 THE MOSLEM WORLD
self; we are suffering from a double caste system — the
religious caste system, sectarianism, and the social caste
system, which we have either learned or inherited from
the Hindus There are no Wahhabis, Shias, Mirzais
or Sunnis in Islam. Fight not the interpretations of the
truth when the truth itself is in danger. Let the idols of
class-distinctions, and sectarianism be smashed forever.
Let the Mussulmans of the country be once more united
into a great vital whole. How can we in the presence of
violent internal dispute expect to persuade others to our
way of thinking? The work of freeing humanity from
superstition will ever remain undone, if the emancipa-
tors themselves are becoming gradually enchained in the
very fetters from which it is their mission to set others
free."
But the fact that there is such a small proportion of the
community in India that has had the privilege of modern
English education leaves a most extensive field for the
activities and practice of what is commonly known as pir-
muridi. There seems to be in the system a certain satis-
faction for the hungry heart of Islam, and this is un-
doubtedly the reason for its lively continuance. Accord-
ing to the Hanifite Law it is said to be incumbent on every
Moslem to attach himself to one or other of the numerous
orders; and it is the common belief that the system was
inaugurated "because of the difficulty the average ignor-
ant man finds in grasping spiritual truths and attaining
paradise." Accordingly a person seeks to attach himself
or herself to a spiritual guide of one of the darwesh or-
ders called a pir, or murshid, who initiates him as a murid,
or disciple, into the secrets of divine worship, to the intent
that by following the special tariqa laid down for the or-
der he may proceed by definite stages until he is blessed
with divine knowledge and final absorption in the Divine
Love itself. That the practice of pir-muridi is very ex-
tensive may be gathered from the statement of one auth-
ority, who asserts that "in Bengal quite two-thirds of its
tweoty-five million Mohammedans belong to one or other
MYSTICISM AND SAINT WORSHIP 131
of the five darwesh orders" found there. And Bengal is
not alone in this respect, but may be taken as a fair illus-
tration for all India. Of course it is not to be inferred
that these millions of lay members of the fraternities are
thorough-going mystics, who successfully pass through
the various stages, or maqamat, of the tariqa, and reach
the stage of fana, or extinction of individual personality,
by absorption into the Divine. This is reserved for the
very few. On the contrary most of them are novitiates of
the crudest sort. To them the pir is well-nigh God in-
carnate, and it is said that many even go so far as to in-
dicate ''that their feelings of worship are entirely diverted
from the Divine Being to their Spiritual Guides!" It is
a common belief that the pir absolves from sin. In the
Punjab Census Report for 191 1 we read, "Thieves follow
their calling in firm conviction that their pir will save
them both from the law, and punishment of God; hence
the first thing he does is to go and confess his guilt to his
pir, presenting him with a handsome offering to secure
his intercession. When caught, the pir teaches him cer-
tain charms to recite each time the case comes up for a
hearing. If through technicality or error the law fails,
the pir stands vindicated of miraculous power." So much
for the ordiniary motive for joining a fraternity of dar-
weshes, which seems to be at best selfish and highly util-
itarian.
There are many books and pamphlets for the masses
dealing with Sufiism, which are to a large extent trans-
lations or condensations of Persian works on the subject,
and I venture to give a version of a typical explanation
of the doctrine as it is found in a pamphlet of the
Chistiya Order called Mazhar-i-^Irfan. We are here told
that the aim of the murid should be to so closely associate
himself with his spiritual guide that the influence of the
pir's heart should produce divine ''light" in the heart of
the murid himself. Concerning this light of the heart,
the author says, "This possession of the heart, which is
passed on from the spiritual guide to the disciple, is a
132 THE MOSLEM WORLD
thing held in trust, which has been handed down from
the Prophet even to the present time by men who have
received it into their holy breasts." We are further told
that this Batini Nur, or Inner Light, comes into the
breast of the believer as a result of much worship in the
prescribed form of the Dhikr, or Zikr, in which the mind
is concentrated on the thought of God and His Unity.
And when this Inner Light is fully received into the
breast of the believer, then, says a tradition from the
Prophet, "the devotee becomes the beloved pf God, and
God becomes his ears by which he hears, his eyes by
which he sees, his hands with which he takes hold of
things, his feet with which he walks about, so that it is
by God alone that he hears, sees, lays hold of things and
walks, and whatever he asks of God it is given him, and
when he seeks refuge in God he is given divine protec-
tion."
The Zikr, as it is called in India, is variously described
for the leading orders by Shah Wali Ullah, of Delhi, in
his Qaul ul-Jamil^ which is the authority Hughes follows
in his "Dictionary of Islam" ; but the most unique descrip-
tion of the act of "remembering" Allah which I have met
was that given me recently by a local faqir. His name is
Hafiz Munna. He is a well-to-do tobacco merchant, but
he is a faqir just the same, and dons the rosary and
patched garments of the darwesh with great zeal. Nat-
urally he is a pronounced pantheist. All is God, and God
is all. He claims to have reached the majdhub state,
where he feels himself entirely in the hands of God. On
one occasion, while talking about his inner experiences, he
suddenly said, "I do not know who I am, where I am, or
by whose will I came here. I feel utterly absorbed in
God. I am drowned in His will." When he finished he
was shaking with the deepest emotion, and tears were
running down his cheeks. Then he went on to explain
that it was solely through a repetition of the name Allah
by every breath that he had reached this state. Said he,
"Allah is the natural and universal name for God.
MYSTICISM AND SAINT WORSHIP 133
Whether a man is conscious or no, waking or sleeping, his
very breathing is articulate with the name Allah. No-
tice," he went on, '^some time when someone is sleeping,
and see if you do not hear this name produced by each
inhalation and exhalation of the breath. We are told that
to ^remember' God continually is an act of the highest
merit, and our bounden duty. Now, God would not have
placed this heavy burden on us without a way of escape
being provided; and so we find the natural, universal
and divine method of performing zikr in the regular
breathing of every human being, who utters the holy
word Allah at every breath."
The darwesh orders found in India are partly im-
ported, and partly indigenous. The Qadiriya, Rafa^ya,
Naqshbandiya and Qalandariya are among those that
have been introduced into the country; while the Madar-
iya, Chistiya, and Muhammadiya are of those founded in
India. It is impossible to give anything like accurate
statistics with reference to the adherents of the various
orders, owing to the ^Tree-Mason" nature of their or-
ganization, but, as has already been indicated, in all prob-
ability two-thirds of the adult Moslem population of In-
dia finds the fullest expression of its inner religious life
in the zikr exercises of the darwesh.
The darwesh orders, through the pirs, who wander
about from place to place, have always been an active
agency for bringing Islam into contact with the non-Mos-
lem masses. Especially is this true where the low castes
are concerned, who desire to have their status raised. Al-
though one cannot often point to definite proselytizing
efforts, and though progress is not as great as in the past,
yet according to the 'Tunjab Census Report for 191 1", in
the preceding decade 2,000 were admitted to Islam
through the mosque at Lahore, and 646 at Delhi; while
the total gain for Islam by conversion for the whole of
India in the period 1901-1911 was estimated at 40,000.
Whereas, in countries under Moslem rule, the darwesh
fraternities have to be reckoned with as strong political
134 THE MOSLEM WORLD
factors, in India, on the other hand, their activities are
practically all confined to religious influences. It is true
that the Wahhabi movement in the first half of the nine-
teenth century, under the leadership of Syed Ahmad of
Rae Bareli in Oudh, did take on something of the nature
of a political ''order," but it was not one. It was rather
the development of a puritanical sect in Indian Islam, as
it was in Arabia, which first sought to purify the popular
religion of unworthy practices such as saint worship, and
the grosser superstitions, and then sought by every sedit-
ious means to drive the British out of India.
Hand in hand with the existence of religious orders in
Islam go saints and saint-worship. India is full of both.
The founder of an order, on his death, is canonized. Like-
wise a very noted successor is treated in the same way.
Tombs not only become places of reverence, but places
of pilgrimage, worship and miracle. From Peshawar to
Cape Comorin, and from Assam to Kashmir, everywhere
one goes among Moslems he can find tombs venerated and
worshipped because they contain the bones of some man
of saintly reputation. Hagiology is a favorite study
among ordinary Indian Moslems, and there are books to
be had at every Urdu book-shop giving minute details of
the lives and sayings of the minor as well as the major
saints of the land. Superstition of the grosser sort pre-
vails in the life of the village Mohammedan in respect to
his saints. Trees are often dedicated to pirs, and rag offer-
ings are made to them by passers-by. To quote the 'Tun-
jab Census Report" again, "people pray to these trees for
fulfilment of desires. Some trees have a reputation for
curing toothache by driving a nail in one of them. Clus-
ters of trees in a jungle dedicated to pirs may not be
touched, their wood, bark, branches may not be used for
firewood for fear of incurring the wrath of the guardian
saint." No doubt much of the superstition and desire for
propitiation of spirits is the result of association with
Hinduism, and often there is little difference between the
worshippers of the rvvo faiths. At the tomb of Pagla
MYSTICISM AND SAINT WORSHIP 135
Sahib, near the village of Habibpur, Bengal, Cunning-
ham, the archaeologist, relates that parents both Hindu and
Mohammedan dedicate a lock of hair of a child when dan-
gerously ill. In the compound of the Lucknow Christian
College there is the tomb of a local saint, which is greatly
revered by Hindus and Mohammedans alike. While a
new building was being erected recently, the Hindu
workmen had to raise some heavy steel girders. In the
evening after the girders had been raised to their places,
without injury to anyone, the Hindu workmen promptly
went to the tomb of the pir with their offerings of sweets
and flowers, with the remark that they were ^^so thankful
to the guardian spirit of the compound that he did not
allow anyone to get hurt."
Ibbetson, in 1881, noted this close similarity in relig-
ious life and practice of the Hindus and Mohammedans
in the uneducated sections of society, and pointed out that
there was little to choose in this respect between the Mus-
sulman of the west and the Hindu of the east. He says
further, "the only practical difference is that the former
worship saints only, and the latter godlings as well; and
that while the latter holds in small reverence the Brah-
man on whom he squanders his substance, the former
trembles before the priest whom he sustains in idleness."
Much information can be gained from visits to the
tombs of the saints, and from reading their biographies,
that will give one considerable insight into the religious
life of the people. Also, sympathetic inquiry will reveal
much. The visitor to Delhi should make it a point to in-
quire for the tombs of local saints, and if possible should
go to Panipat to visit the tomb of 'Ali Yusuf Qalandari,
of Spain, who founded the Qalandriya Order. He was a
great traveller, and his followers are obliged to be always
on the move. He died at Panipat, about 1323 A. D., and
his tomb is visited annually by multitudes of pilgrims.
The visitor to Ajmir, in Rajputana, will not fail to see
the much frequented resting-place of the founder of the
Chistiya Order, Mu'in-ud-din Chisti, otherwise known as
136 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Hazrat Garib Nawaz, who died there about 1238 A. D.
Following the illustrious example of the Moghul Em-
perors, Akbar, Jehangir and Shahjahan, pilgrimages are
made to the tomb by all classes of Mohammedans; and
on the occasion of the saint's 'Urs, or anniversary of his
death, huge cauldrons of rice are cooked, and fed to the
hungry pilgrims who gather for the event. It is written
in one biography that the various Hindu rajas of Raj-
putana and the Mahratta country formerly outdid the
Mohammedans in their respect for the tomb; and that
in the days of Mahratta rule, the inhabitants of the entire
city of Ajmir, Hindu as well as Mohammedan, were
ordered out every Thursday without fail to visit the tomb.
There is no doubt about Garib Nawaz having been a
saint, so his biographers say, for at the time of his death
there appeared the miraculous writing on his forehead in
Arabic, 'The lover of Allah died in the love of Allah."
Not far from the great manufacturing city of Cawn-
pore is the tomb of a saint from Syria. His exact resting
place is Makhanpur, and he is commonly known as Zinda
Shah Madar. Having lived to a great age, he is even yet
considered alive, and hence bears the title Zinda, i. e.,
"living." He was the founder of the Madariya Order,
and is reputed to have been a great wait, who performed
many miracles. It is therefore not surprising that we
should be told that the tomb is annually visited by "no less
than a million people."
There are of course many tombs of wide repute, and
hundreds of others of less importance, which have their
"following," and regularly receive the attentions of de-
votees. At all the important tombs there is held an an-
nual 'Urs, which is the celebration of the anniversary of
the saint's death. 'Urs, which literally means wedding,
is the term used, because the occasion is the anniversary
of the wisal or union of the spirit of the saint with Allah,
which occurs at death. This takes the form of a holiday
celebration, and is a great event, lasting from one to sev-
eral days. The greater the saint the greater the distances
MYSTICISM AND SAINT WORSHIP 137
from which people come. One which the writer visited
recently is fairly typical of all, so perhaps a brief ac-
count of it will not be out of place. Shah Bulaqi Sahib
was a noted darwesh of the Qadiriya Order whose tomb is
found at Moradabad in North India. The arrangements
for the celebration were in the hands of the Sajjada
Nishin, or present head of the order in this locality, who is
a lineal descendant of the saint. Thousands of Moham-
medans were in attendance, and every possible attraction
religious and worldly, was provided for the crowd. On
the day the people began to gather, vendors of cloth,
sweets, food, and cigarettes, promptly set up their shops
along the entrance to the sacred precincts of the tomb.
Here amid the dust one saw gay crowds of young and old
enjoying a ride in a hand-pushed merry-go-round. There
a Punch-and-Judy show was making the throng laugh, and
beyond a medicine man was "crying" his wonderful cures
for all ailments. The crowd meanwhile good-naturedly
pushed forward past the shops and shows toward the high
enclosure of the tomb. Leaving their shoes at the door,
they passed in one by one, going around the tomb from left
to right, offering up their prayers for some special thing
to be granted, and in return reciting the Fatiha for the
good of the saint's soul. Offerings of sweets, flour, grain,
expensive pieces of cloth, and even live goats, were left by
the worshippers. But in spite of all that seemed incon-
gruous one could not fail to be impressed by the atmos-
phere of reverence and regard for sacred things that
pervaded the place.
One of the attractions afforded the credulous visitors
was the display of a garment called the jubba, or long
shirt, declared to have been used by the Prophet himself.
Sometimes on such occasions, one of the hairs of his beard,
or an imprint of his foot in stone, called qadam sharif, is
exhibited to the crowds, who strain eagerly to get a sight
of the holy thing, the while an enthusiastic preacher de-
livers a lecture on the history of the garment, hair or foot-
138 THE MOSLEM WORLD
print, which, however, are all clear impostures and only
believed in by ignorant Moslems.
Much money is spent on this occasion by the Sajjada
Nishin, who makes a point of providing food for his
friends, and especially for the darweshes who happen to
be in attendance. Much, and often all, of the money
spent on this occasion is realized from the fees which the
shop-keepers are required to pay for their concessions, so
the whole affair is largely self-supporting. On this par-
ticular day I had a lengthy visit with the present custodian
of the prayer-carpet, who pressed on me an invitation to
dine with him and the faqirs. At about seven in the eve-
ning I returned to enjoy his hospitality, and was seated on
the ground with a number of other guests, and ate with
them a bountiful dinner of curry, rice and bread. Fol-
lowing this meal, the last part of the celebration began,
and those who cared to stay proceeded to the tomb headed
by the Sajjada Nishin to spend a good part of the night
in reading the Koran for the benefit of the saint, and in re-
citing poems in his honor.
Then there is the tomb of the ^^unknown" saint, whose
worship, while less ostentatious, is no less real. Near
the writer's house is a very common looking tomb of a pir.
It is not built of brick and mortar, and so requires a great
deal of care to keep it from disappearing altogether; but
strange to say, although no one is appointed to look after
it, yet it never lacks for care. After each rain it is freshly
plastered with mud and whitewashed. A small platform
of bricks has also been put around it. Intending to find
out how it was kept up I went one Thursday evening to
the tomb, and on arriving discovered the secret. An old
man was sitting by the grave with a bundle of twigs in
his hand diligently sweeping away the stones, straw and
other refuse that had accumulated within the enclosure
in a week's time. Over the tomb he had spread a green
cloth, on which he had carefully deposited a garland of
fragrant white flowers. In the niche of the pillar at the
head of the grave he had lighted a small crude lamp.
MYSTICISM AND SAINT WORSHIP 139
Every Thursday evening he visits the resting place of the
saint, and spends a couple of hours in the service of the
pir sahib. The old man is but one of the many unpaid
caretakers of the tombs of the '^unknown" saints through-
out the country.
There is a special class of tombs, specimens of which
one meets occasionally, which are commonly called the
^'naugaza pir I' that is, tombs nine yards long where the
"giants of the olden time" rest. They frequently show a
curious tendency to grow in length. Thus according to
Crooke in his "Popular Religion and Folklore of North-
ern India," the tombs said to be those of Seth and Job at
Ajudhiya, which are now seventeen and twelve feet long
respectively, were in the time of the Emperor Akbar only
ten and one-half and nine feet respectively.
Miracles, wonders, and fulfilling the desires of the
heart, all are implicitly believed in by the saint-worship-
per, who brings his offerings of sweetmeats or flowers to
the dwelling-place of the spirit of the holy-man, and for
whom the Fatiha is said. Sons have been given, the sick
have been restored to health, dangers in work have been
avoided, journeys have been safely accomplished, all
through the benevolent agency of the saints. But occa-
sionally a saint is not able to keep up his reputation, and
is consequently abandoned. Crooke, in the volume re-
ferred to above, mentions a shrine which was supposed to
be that of the saint, Ashraf 'Ali, of the Mirazpur Dis-
trict, near Benares. "It enjoyed considerable reputation
for a time, but failing to keep up its character was dis-
credited and abandoned. The competition is in fact so
keen, and the pecuniary value of a successful institution
of the kind so considerable, that the saint has to give un-
equivocal proofs of his presence and influence in order
to secure that continuous respect attaching to ancient
saints and local godlings, who have in an extended course
of usefulness long since established their claims of rec-
ognition by a series of exhibitions of their thaumaturgic
virtues."
140 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Not only to the dead but to the living the people turn
for the demonstration of miraculous powers. Along with
the effort to win God's favor through the propitiation of
a saint goes the practice of working charms to accomplish
one's desires. The following examples are translated
from a booklet prepared by a Naqshbandiya faqir, and
may be taken as typical of the present day belief in charms.
The basis of these charms is Sura XXXVI of the Koran,
namely Ya Sin.
"To Become Rich. After the maghrib prayer every
Friday recite eleven times a darud for the Prophet and
his family, then ten times recite the chapter Ya Sin, and
then again eleven times a darud as above. Then go to
sleep without saying a word to anyone. By the grace of
God after a number of days you will become rich."
"To Keep From Doing Evil. Take some earth from
an old grave, and over it read the chapter Ya Sin twelve
times, and then blow on it. Bury it beneath a tree that
has fruit on it, at the same time mentioning the name of
the evil from which you wish to be kept. If it be God's
pleasure you will be kept from committing that sin."
"To Secure The Love of Someone. Take forty-one
grains of wheat, and over each one separately read the
chapter Ya Sin. Then, taking some soiled clothes of the
one who is the object of your love, wrap the grains of
wheat in them, and bury them in a dark corner of your
house. If it be God's will, that person will soon begin to
love you."
There are charms to enable one to have a good memory,
to prevent one being shipwrecked, to cause trouble be-
tween two persons, to secure victory over one's enemy, to
win a lawsuit, to discover a thief, to make a person dumb,
to make a person lose sleep, to cure paralysis, to keep
away all kinds of fever, and so on down the list ad libitum,
ad infinitum. Maulwis having thief-catching reputations
are in great demand, and just recently I even heard of a
Christian B. A. who on discovering a theft in his house
promptly called in a Maulwi thief-catcher, who worked
MYSTICISM AND SAINT WORSHIP 141
his charrtij and, mirabile dictu, detected the thief who
confessed everything.
But whatever the degradation to which popular mys-
ticism has been brought in Indian Islam, and there are
many puritanical Wahhabis and men of modern educa-
tion who cry out against it, yet one must admit that it is
in the realm of this Inner Light, and its shiaing — how-
ever dimly — that we as Christians can find a very real
door of approach to the Moslem heart. Not so very long
ago the writer was travelling with a Mohammedan who
wanted to discuss the doctrines of the Trinity and Sonship
of Christ. Realizing that theological discussion would
lead nowhere under such circumstances, the conversation
was given a turn which revealed that the traveller was a
murid of the Qadiriya Order. It was then suggested that
he listen to something about the tariqa of Hazrat ^Isa,
and then followed a reading and exposition of the Vine
and Branches chapter of John's Gospel; of the verse,
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" ; and
of various quotations from Paul's grand mystic doctrine of
"in Christ." Needless to say what at first started out to be
a fruitless theological argument ended in a mutually
profitable Bible reading, and close heart to heart fellow-
ship ; and one cannot help but feel that this companion of
the road got a vision of the real *Isa that perhaps he could
not have received in any other way. By making the ap-
peal to the mystic nature we strike a sympathetic chord,
and by thus "sinking the points of difference, and empha-
sizing the points of unity," as Dr. D. B. Macdonald says,
we establish a working basis for creating genuine interest
in and acquaintance with Jesus Christ.*
Moradabad, India. MURRAY T. TiTUS.
*For those who are interested in this form of personal work among Moslems I cannot
do better than recommend as a simple and practical help a small book published by the
Christian Literature Society, Madras, called "The Inward Way" or "At-Tariqat," by the
Rev. J. Takle. Those who wish to go further into the subject, and enlarge their mental
background, should read "The Mystics of Islam," by R. A. Nicholson; "The Religious
Orders of Islam," by Edward Sell; "A Moslem Seeker After God," and the "I<ife and
Teaching of Al-Ghazali," by S. M. Zwemer.
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION
FIELD— II
We shall now quickly pass in review the different prov-
inces, giving only the most important items concerning
them:
The Trans-Caspian Region is the largest province
of Russian Central Asia, containing 10,238 square miles —
at the same time it is the most unattractive part of it, and
the most sparsely inhabited. Only three per cent, of it is
under cultivation, and even the few oases consist partly
of rocky and partly of clay soil — the rest is represented
by waterless sand-steppes, with here and there salt-water
pits. From the mountains on the south frontier the rivers
Mourg-ab, Tedjen, Atrek, and Soumbar run north, and
are made use of for irrigation. The population consists
of only 500,000 souls; the aborigines are Turkomans, and
Kirghiz — the Persians, Azerbeidjanys, Russians, Armen-
ians, Georgians, Tartars, Jews, etc., have immigrated;
but the Persian influence and language predominate. The
people of the sea-coasts live by the product of their fish-
eries; agriculture is not much developed, and the region
depends on imported cereals; cattle breeding is the chief
means of livelihood for the nomad population. Home-
industry produces fine rugs, reckoned among the best of
Central Asia; there are hardly any factories. There is a
lively transit trade to Persia, Afghanistan and India.
A good road unites this region with Meshed, Persia —
crossing the Kopet-Dagh at 8980 feet. The head of the
whole administration resides at Askhabad, where are
also concentrated the highest military and administrative
units of the region; the town has about 25,000 inhabit-
ants. We may mention also Krassnovodsk on the Caspian
Sea, where the steamers from Baku touch, and where the
railroad through Central Asia starts, and Merv with
142
TURKISTAN—A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 143
10,000 inhabitants. The ruins of ancient Merv are of
historical and archeological interest. From here a small
railroad branches off south into the mountains to Post
Koushka on the Afghan frontier. The people of this reg-
ion are subject to boils, caused by the sting of a certain
fly, which last about a year, and leave the sufferer dis-
figured; malaria of a bad kind is rampant here.
Syr-Darya covers an area of 9,367 square miles, and
has a population of about one million. The northwest
part consists of sand and grass-steppes, the east and south
are mountainous ; many forests, beautiful pastures and a
multitude of rivers make this part of Syr-Darya attractive
to colonists. Russians, and also German Mennonites are
to be found here; the Kirghiz make use of the pastures
for their cattle. The chief river is the Syr-Darya, which
gives its name to the region; there are also the rivers
Tallas and Tchirtchik. The climate is continental; the
heat goes up to 115 Fahr. in the shade; flora and fauna
are rich, and vary according to mountainous or lowland
parts. Agriculture is highly developed: about 400,000
acres are under cultivation. The districts of Tchimkent
and Aoulie-Ata are real store-houses of agriculture prod-
ucts. The natives are Kirghiz and Sart, but also Tadjiks,
Bokharian Jews, etc. The districts of Perovsk, Kazal-
insk, and the Delta of the Amou-Darya, consist mostly of
sand-steppes, and are inhabited by nomad cattle breeders.
There are fisheries along the coast of the Aral Sea. In-
dustries are well developed; cereals, fruit, wines and silks
are exported. Native home-industries in leather, silks
and silver flourish.
The chief town not only of the Syr-Darya region, but of
the whole of Russian Central Asia is Tashkent; here re-
sides the Governor-General of Turkistan, and the mili-
tary, educational, sanitary, and other institutions of the
country are centered here. It is one of the oldest cities of
Central Asia, and has been under the control of Mongols,
Arabs, Ouzbeks, etc. ; in 1865 it w^s taken from the Khan
of Khokand by the Russians. The town consists of two
144 THE MOSLEM WORLD
parts : the "native" or old town with a great number of
mosques, madrasses and bazaars; about 150,000 native
inhabitants; schools of the new type, and dispensaries.
The new or Russian town joins the native one, and is con-
nected with it by a tram-car line. Streets and squares are
laid out well, the houses are all surrounded by gardens,
aryks and trees border the streets. We have here Greek
Orthodox, Lutheran, Catholic and Armenian churches;
a public library, museum, well-stocked stores, and places
for recreation are provided; schools of all descriptions
draw the young people from other parts of the country to
Tashkent. The Russian town numbers 30,000 inhabit-
ants. The other large cities of the region are Tchimkent,
Turkistan, Aoulie-Ata, Perovsk, Kazalinsk and Petro-
Alexandrovsk on the Amou-Darya Delta, opposite Khiva.
Samarkand is the smallest of the five provinces, but has
many natural advantages; it covers an area of 1,236
square miles, and has one million inhabitants. The north-
ern part consists of lowland, some sand-steppes, but mostly
arable land dotted with villages or Kishlaks. The
southern part is mountainous, well watered by aryks jut-
ting out from the Syr-Darya river, but specially from the
fine river Zaravshan, which alone irrigates about 150,000
acres of best loess soil. The climate is quite continen-
tal; flora and fauna are rich and varied. Agriculture is
well developed; 350,000 acres of land are under culti-
vation, producing principally cereals; the cultivation of
cotton has increased lately; there is much gardening;
immense quantities of grapes and apricots are produced;
melons and tobacco are also grown. The nomad Kirghiz
is given to cattle-breeding. Industry and trade are on the
increase. Most of the inhabitants are Ouzbeks, Sarts and
Kirghiz, with the usual sprinkling of other races. The
chief town is Samarkand, 2,300 feet above sea-level; as in
all the Central Asian towns, the European part of it is well
mapped out; the water is good and abundant. The town
has several churches, public, high and professional
schools, hotels, good stores, etc.
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 145
The Asiatic part of the town has its origin, according
to tradition, as far back as 3,000 B. C. In the seventh
century A. D., the Arabs took it; in 122 1 A. D., Djinghiz-
Khan the Mongol, and in 1369 A. D., the famous Timour,
or Tamerlane, made it the capital of his empire. He
employed thousands of Arabs slaves, engineers and artists
to make Samarkand the wonder of the world; even now
the eye is delighted with the mosques and other buildings
erected by him and his successors; the burnt tiles — ^yel-
low, blue and white — are as well preserved and as beau-
tiful as they were more than five hundred years ago. The
inhabitants are friendly and enjoy life, and dress more
gaudily than in other parts of Turkistan; all this taken
together, the blue sky, wonders of architecture and
beauty of nature, give to Samarkand a charm of its own.
Some of the larger towns are: Djisak, Khodjent, Oura-
Tioube and Katta-Kourgan.
Ferghana covers an area of 2,870 square miles, which
includes also the mountain-plateau of the Pamir. Ferg-
hana consists of a large valley, running due east and west,
and of mountain-ranges north and south of this valley.
On the mountain-slopes the nomads find rich pastures for
their flocks, and the agricultural colonist a most fertile
soil, and water in abundance; high mountain-passes lead
from one valley into the other. Kashgar can be reached
from Ferghana by a mountain-pass at 12,000 feet; im-
practicable in winter. The valley of Ferghana is in-
tensely cultivated; it depends for its water on the rivers
Naryn and Karasou, which unite and form the river Syr-
Darya ; 350,000 acres of land are irrigated by these rivers.
The climate is continental; flora and fauna are of the
richest and most varied kinds, no other part of Turkistan,
except Bokhara, can boast of such magnificent forests as
Ferghana. There is an abundance of fish in the rivers,
and of wild animals in the woods; minerals abound, but
are poorly worked. Agriculture is highly developed;
cotton and fruit are extensively grown, and exported as
far as Russia. Cattle are bred by the nomads and by the
146 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Russian colonists on the mountain-slopes; the culture of
the silk-worm is firmly established, and the production of
silks is a special feature of the home-industry of Ferg-
hana. There are thousands of mills and factories all over
this region, connected mostly with the culture of cotton
and silk; the greatest item of export is cotton. There is
an extensive transit trade with Kashgar and India. The
chief towns are: Skobeleff, seat of the Administration;
Khokand and Andijan, Namangan and Osh — wonderfully
situated 3,300 feet above sea-level, where the route starts
up toward Kashgar and the Pamir.
Semiryetchinsk occupies an area of 6,713 square
miles. The southern part is taken up by the mountain-
group of the Tyan-Shan. The country is well watered
by the rivers Ily, Tchou, and a number of smaller rivers;
of the numerous lakes the largest ones are the Issykh-Koul
and Lake Balkhash. The flora and fauna resemble those
of Ferghana. The fertile soil and the abundance of
water have attracted many colonists, and agriculture and
gardening are highly developed; fruit and honey are ex-
ported in immense quantities; all cereals are cultivated
and millions of pounds of wheat flour exported. Fish-
eries exist on the big lakes; a great number of wild ani-
mals are hunted on the mountains. As manufactures are
not much developed, the products of the country are ex-
ported as raw materials. There is an important export
trade in sheep and horses, and a transit trade with China.
The population is about two million, amongst them a
considerable percentage of Russian colonists; the abor-
igines are Sart, Tartars, Taranchys, and Kirghiz; and
there are some 2,500 foreigners, including Chinese. The
chief town and center of administration is Vernoye, with
30,000 inhabitants; and there are also the towns of Pish-
pek and of Prshevalsk on the lake Issykh-Koul.
The Khanat of Bokhara is situated between the
Russian dominions and Afghanistan, and covers 4,445
square miles; it is divided into a smaller western part,
consisting of bleak sand-steppes and lowlands irrigated
TURKISTAN-^A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 147
by the Zaravshan and the Amou-Darya, and the middle
and eastern parts of the Khanat which are entirely cov-
ered with mountain-chains. The chief river is the Amou-
Darya; and there are quite a number of rivers in the
mountains. The climate is continental. Bokhara pro-
duces all sorts of cereals, also cotton, grapes and apricots,
which are exported in great quantities; famous rugs are
made and exported. There is an important transit trade
through Afghanistan into India. The inhabitants are
mostly Tadjiks and Kirghiz.
Bokhara is an absolute monarchy (this relates up to
1917, before the Bolshevist regime), but the autocracy of
the Ameer is limited by the Shariat. The dififerent dis-
tricts are ruled by Beghs, who pay the Ameer a certain
sum of money, and enrich themselves by bleeding the
people unmercifully. Administrative posts are in the
hands of the Ouzbeks, but Persians hold high offices also.
There is an army of 20,000 men. Russian influence tends
to ease the yoke put on the inhabitants of that rich but
badly governed country.
The chief town is Bokhara ^^El-Shareef," a most inter-
esting old town, surrounded by high walls; it boasts a
great number of mosques and madrassesj which are fam-
ous all over Central Asia, which prides itself in Bokhara
as the stronghold of Islam. In the bazaars of this town
all the nations of Central Asia meet, and it gives one the
impression of the Mohammedan Orient more than any
other town in Asia or North Africa. Other towns of
Bokhara are: Karky, Karshy, Hissar and Termaze or
Patta-Hissar.
The Khanat of Khiva consists exclusively of low-
lands — either sand-steppes or agricultural land; of the
last there are only 400 square miles. The water for irri-
gation is supplied by the Amou-Darya; the lands under
cultivation can be compared to gardens. Owing to the
absence of pastures, cattle are scarce; all sorts of cereals
and also fruit of excellent quality are grown. The pop-
ulation is about one million, and consists mostly of Ouz-
148 THE MOSLEM WORLD
beks, with some Turkoman clans, Kirghiz, Persians and
Sart. The chief town is Khiva, the residence of the Khan,
whose autocratic powers are kept in check by Russian
influence. In the neighborhood of Khiva several German
Mennonite and Russian Baptist colonies are to be found.
Religious Life
Ninety-five per cent, of all the population of Turkistan
profess Islam; those who come from Turko- Mongol
stock are Sunnites (Hanifites), those of Iranian descent,
such as the Persians and the Tadjiks are Shiites. The
Koran and the Shariat consequently inspire and regulate
their religious and social life; the guardians of their rites
and faith are the Imams, who are elected by the people
themselves, for service in the mosque — any man who can
read and write {Mullah) is liable to be elected to this
office; the learned theologians are called Ulemas. The
Sarts are a deeply religious people; the smallest village
has its mosque, attached to which is the school, and the
shelter for poor and pilgrims; each mosque has an Imam
to perform the prayers, to officiate at marriages, funerals,
circumcisions, etc., and an Azzantchi or muezzin, who
calls the faithful to prayer (namaz). The villagers pay
their Imam so much per capita, a small per cent, of which
sum goes to the Azzantchi, to whom belong also all the
hides of animals sacrificed at the Kourban-Bairam. The
Imam is simply an official, and does not pretend to be a
guide to heaven or to give spiritual help in time of need;
but as the human soul, "everywhere the same," needs "a
hand to lead it through the darkness," the Mohammedan
soul in Turkistan in its search for God has found a helper
and guide in the Ishan, He is a member, official or
unofficial, of the mystic Order of Sufis. The Ishan
lives the life of a monk, either settled or wandering;
those who give themselves over to him to be taught how
to develop the spiritual life, to come into contact with
God and lose themselves in Him, are called Murids; they
either live with their Ishan, or stay in their homes, but
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 149
often send gifts to him with requests for prayer. At cer-
tain times ail the Murids gather around their Ishan for
the Zikr; there are two chief schools of Ishans accord-
ing to the Zikr they hold: the Djagrya school has its
Zikr with loud exclamations and spells of boisterous
ecstasy; the Khufia school holds its Zikr in silence,
each soul rapt in solitary contemplation of God. The
Darvishes present a conspicuous feature in the life of
Turkistan Mohammedans; they wear a special robe and
high pointed cap, live solitarily or in companies. They
are seen mostly on Fridays, roaming through the streets
and bazaars, reciting prayers in a monotonous sing-song
tone, and presenting their calabashes for alms; they are
mostly humbugs.
The faith of Islam, with all that it lacks in truth and
spirituality, has an immense hold on the Turkistan Mos-
lems; nobody can live amongst them without realizing
that the thought of God's presence and of His Providence
and care, is prominent in their lives. I confess, that this
fact has drawn me more than almost anything else to-
wards the people amongst whom I lived and moved for
Christ's sake; it seemed easier to practice ^'the Presence
of God" amongst them, than amongst a profane, so-called
^'Christian" crowd. The times of prayer are observed in
a way which often puts to shame the shy and undemon-
strative Christian; admitting even the routine of this ob-
servance, there still remains in many cases a spiritual
^^something," which lifts the prayer above a purely ritual
performance. Ablutions, Zakat and Sadaka are per-
formed according to the Shariat. It is reckoned that
about 12,000 pilgrims each year go from Russian Turk-
istan to Mecca to perform the Pilgrimage ; many old peo-
ple go to die there, pregnant mothers go to the holy place
for their deliverance, and return proudly, or die content,
with a little Hadji in their arms.
As everywhere else in Mohammedan lands so here also,
Animism has darkened the life of the people and brought
them under the fear and power of evil spirits; charms
I50 THE MOSLEM WORLD
and amulets are used in profusion, mostly by women and
children. Koran texts, written out and sewn into little
tags or engraved on stones, are worn around the neck or
on the arm; the children's caps are decorated with
feathers against the evil eye. Many a tree have I passed
on my wanderings through the length and breadth of
Turkistan, covered with thousands of small rags or bits
of tape hung up there by the superstitious traveller; I
have seen a rock, polished by numberless breasts of
grieved childless mothers, hoping to have the curse of
barrenness taken from them by its magic touch; I have
been invited to put my head into a hole in the rock or slide
down a gutter cut in the rock in order to free myself from
headache or backache. It is the sad old story: ^Trom
fear of death, or suffering, or sorrow, all their life-time
subject to bondage.''
The Shiite lives his religious life separately from the
Sunnite and the religious differences between them in-
fluence also their secular relationships; there is the age-
long hatred between the two wherever they meet. The
Shiites have their own mosques and Imams; they keep
Muharram, and in the western part of Turkistan, where
they are numerous, perform the traditional wailing and
cutting of themselves in remembrance of Hasan and
Husain. They must be approached differently on re-
ligious questions; they have thought more and can fol-
low somewhat more easily our Christian way of reasoning
than the Sunnites. A number of Babis and Behais live in
western Turkistan, do much proselytizing, and are heart-
ily disliked by Sunnite and Shiite alike.
The Kirghiz, formerly Lamaites, adopted Islam not
more than a hundred years ago; they are indifferent Mo-
hammedans, and their roaming way of living has made
it easier for them to drop irksome rites.
A people who will certainly appeal to any missionary's
heart are the despised Parsees or Fire-Worshippers from
Hindustan; they are treated as Pariahs, yet I was suc-
cessful in winning their confidence in several places and
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 151
ascertaining the languages in which they could read; and
when after a year the Scriptures in their languages had
arrived from the British and Foreign Bible Society, their
joy and gratitude were touching to behold. The mission-
ary will also come in touch with the Bokharian Jews ; like
the Jews everywhere, they are difficult to reach, but per-
sistent friendliness has induced many a one to receive and
read the Scriptures. The numerous Russian Baptists and
Evangelical Christians, who have come out from the
Greek Orthodox Church, represent an element which will
prove helpful in future mission-work amongst Moham-
medans in Turkistan.
There is historical and archeological evidence, that in
the early Christian era the Christian faith spread, prob-
ably from Chaldea, into Central Asia; it seems that what
is now Turkomania was thoroughly Christianized, for
even as far up to the North and East as Tashkent and
Aoulie-Ata, ruins of churches may be found or crosses
hewn into stones, which testify to this fact. The Chris-
tians of Turkistan were Nestorians, which is natural, be-
cause Christianity reached them through the Nestorian
Assyrians. Here, as in many other lands, Christianity
was swept away by Islam, when at the end of the seventh
century A. D., Turkistan was conquered by the Moham-
medan Arabs.
Education
Before the Russians conquered ^Turkistan, no other
schools than those prescribed by Mohammedan law and
tradition were known in the country. These have con-
tinued unchanged till now.
The Mektab or Primary School, which we find in every
village, is run either by the Imam or the Muezzin, or by
any Mullah chosen by the parents; the children learn the
Arabic letters and the Koran by heart, in the usual unv
intelligent way without having their reasoning faculties
developed, and therefore many of them forget all their
^'science" as soon as they leave school. Yet there is a
great desire for reading among the children, and it is
152 THE MOSLEM WORLD
touching to see them surround the colporteur and plead
for something to read; but there is nothing as yet in the
way of child-literature prepared for their use. The next
grade of school is the Madrasse: like the Mektab it is
supported by private gifts, mostly Waqf^ which are
managed by the Mutavally ; according to the income
from this Waqf property, the Madrasse has a larger or
smaller number of teachers (Moudarriss) and of pupils;
these live together in cells surrounding the inner court of
the Madrasse, which is always made attractive by some
running water and shady trees. The students are of all
ages, and stay as long as they wish to. The method of
teaching is absolutely antiquated : it does not prepare or
fit the scholar for real study or practical life; they begin
with the study of the Mohammedan Catechism, continue
with Arabic, and go on to a general course in Theology,
Logic, Dialectics, Metaphysics, Cosmography, etc. ; then
follows a course in Law. On leaving school the student
believes firmly that our earth is flat, and bounded by the
mountainsof Qaf !
The Russian Government did not think it wise to ab-
ruptly change this state of things, trusting time to do her
work, but it opened a number of schools of a new type,
called "Russo-Native" schools, where the young Kirghiz,
Sart and Tadjiks are taught in the native and the Russian
languages, according to European pedagogical methods.
The natives took wonderfully to these schools of ^'Kafir"
type, and only the Mullahs and Moudarriss, fearing for
the Faith of Islam and for their own prosperity, were
against them. In some places hostels have been opened
in connection with these schools, especially for the chil-
dren of nomad Kirghiz. Russians and Sart have been
brought nearer to each other in a great measure, and many
a young Sart is now making a living in some administra-
tive office or commercial enterprise. The schools are
kept up partly by Government, partly by free-will offer-
ings by the parents. As has been said in another place,
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 153
all Russian Schools, even high and professional ones, arc
open to any Sart or Kirghiz boy or girl who can pass the
examinations; quite a number of Kirghiz girls are in the
high and professional schools in the chief towns. I have
not heard of Sart parents sending their girls to Russian
high schools; for them there is no link between the
mektab and the Russian high schools, which the boys
find provided for in the Russo-native schools. The
teachers are Russians as well as Mohammedans. No
Christian religious teaching of any kind is given in these
schools.
The number of Mektabs, Madrasses and Russo-native
schools in Turkistan is as follows :
Mektab Pupils Madrasses Pupils Russo-Native Pupils
11,197 187,108 455 35,635 68 2,552
Courts of Law
Formerly legal procedure was exclusively along the
lines of Mohammedan law, according to Koran, Shariat,
Tradition, and Adat (Custom) . The chief Judge or Kadi
was appointed by the head of the Government (this was
done for the first time under the Khalif Omar), but later
on the chief Vazier or the Ameer chose the judges them-
selves; only the best men were elected to this office, as
life and death were in the Kadi's hands. One could ap-
peal against his Fetwa to the ^'Kadi-Kalan" and even to
the Ameer. The Kadi is assisted by the Mufti and the
Agliam, who have to be well versed in the Shariat and
Law-Codexes in order to establish precedents for the
Kadi's fetwas. After the Russian conquest the popular
courts were continued, but the power of the Kadi was
limited ; he judges now only cases which occur amongst
natives in their religious and domestic life; cases of mur-
der, theft, political disturbances, acts of violence against
Christians, etc., are brought before the Russian law-
courts. The Kirghiz do not accept the Shariat, but only
the customary law or Adat,
154 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Public Health and Social Life
The Russians found Turkistan about fifty years ago in
the same state of ignorance as to the laws of hygiene which
we find in every other Mohammedan country untouched
by European influence: ^'medicine-men and medicine-
women," charms and incantations. To the honor of the
Russian Government be it said, that it set at once energet-
ically to helping the native population with dispensaries
and hospitals, which are now dotted all over the country.
These native dispensaries are often managed by women-
doctors, amongst whom are quite a number of Kirghiz
graduate women, as the overwhelming majority of the
patients are women and children. Hospitals and dispen-
saries, clinics and sanitariums in the larger Russian towns
are all available to both natives and Russians of means. It
is in the native dispensaries that the dark and sad side of
the Mohammedan woman's life comes out clearly; here
she pours out her grief before the good doctor, and un-
burdens her heart about the strife and jealousy between
the several wives in the one home; here you will often
hear Rachel's pathetic outcry: ''Give me a child, or I
die"! a child which will save her from the risk of divorce,
and will allow her to triumph over her rival. Here you
see the fruit of ages of ignorance, and of newly-imported
vice, and its consequences. This is the place, as mission-
aries everywhere know it to be, where one may lead the
Mohammedan women to the Great Physician of soul and
body. But no missionary work whatever is being done
in the government dispensaries and hospitals, not only
because the Government is bound by its promise to the
natives not to engage in any religious propaganda, but
also because there is no evangelical worker amongst all
the lady-doctors; they are kind and self-sacrificing, but
they are blind to the privileges and possibilities of their
work.
Eye diseases, stomach troubles, women's diseases an'
malaria are predominant. There is a Pasteur Institute
at Tashkent, as cases of rabies are frequent; vaccination
TURKISTAN—A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 155
against small-pox is now extensively practiced. But how
much remains yet to be done by the missionary!
The Mohammedans in Turkistan live altogether
under the shadow of Islam: Koran and Shariat, Sunna
and Adat regulate all the customs of family and social
life. The type of face, house or dress may vary in dif-
ferent Mohammedan countries, but the spirit which
moves the nine million Mohammedan natives of Tur-
kistan is the same as all over the "Beit-ul-Islam." Polyg-
amy is permitted and practiced, but tends to disappear.
One of his wives is appointed by the husband to be the
chief, and to preserve order and peace. Divorce is easily
obtained, but the laws and customs of divorce, as, by the
way, those of marriage, differ according to Sart, Ouzbek,
or Kirghiz influences. With the Kirghiz for instance, it
is enough for the husband to say three times in the pres-
ence of his wife ''talakh/' whereupon she veils herself at
once, her husband having become a stranger to her. In
cases of bad treatment the wife may also ask for divorce.
The contact with Christian Europeans and the advice of
doctors may in some way have influenced the position of
women, but all the same as long as she is a '^Moham-
medan" woman she is treated as an inferior, is kept in ig-
norance, at the pleasure of her husband, unprepared for
the education of her children: in one word, she lives the
darkened and limited life of Mohammedan women every-
where.
The women in the towns live a more secluded life than
those in the country, who are out in the fields helping
their husbands. A Sart woman when leaving her house
is strictly veiled; all Sart women, rich or poor, wear the
black veil made of horse-hair hanging down below the
waist, and the coat, mostly grey, which extends from the
top of the head to the feet, the long sleeves falling down
the back. It is only by the hand which holds together the
liolds of this ugly coat that you can guess the age or social
status of the woman who passes you like a shadow. In con-
trast to the strictly purdahed Sart and Ouzbek women, the
156 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Kirghiz woman enjoys a quite un-Mohammedan free-
dom; she goes unveiled not only in her home and village,
but she comes even to the bazaars, on horseback, with un-
veiled face, an immense white muslin turban on her head,
and seems to belong altogether to another world.
All native men dress in loose white under-garments
made of matta, 2i cotton home-spun material; the
Kirghiz wear a rather short woolen or fur over-coat, and
a quaint felt or fur cap which can be brought down over
the ears. The Sart and Ouzbeks wear flowing outer-gar-
ments, tied round the waist by one or many big handker-
chiefs, and having extraordinarily long sleeves. The col-
ors of these outer-garments are of the most gaudy shades.
They wear soft boots of native leather, over which they
add in the streets the Kaoush, which is always left at
the threshold of any inner apartment. They cover their
invariably shaven heads with small caps, around which
is wound the turban or Tchalma, and the color, quality
and manner of winding indicate the social status of the
wearer.
Village Life
The villages are built like the Arab ones: the houses
are of sun-dried mud-bricks, over which several layers of
clay are spread; the windows all face toward the inner
court, so that the streets resemble long corridors of blind
walls. The entrances are low, and lead directly into the
stables, behind which one may find charming courts and
gardens surrounding the house. The rooms are made
comfortable by rugs and mats spread on the hard mud
floor;, some trunks are placed along the walls; shelves
with the necessary utensils, and piled-up blankets make up
the simple furniture, which even in the rich man's house
differs only in quality from that of the poor. The men
who come in contact with Russians now have some tables
and chairs for the benefit of their guests. The rooms are
heated in winter by the SanJaly, a small coal-stove put
in a hole in the floor in the middle of the room, and
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 157
covered with blankets; all the family sit around this
Sandaly, putting their feet under the blankets — it is of
course, a very unhygienic custom. There are always
partitions between the men's and women's quarters in
every Sart, Ouzbek and Tadjik house, whereas the
Kirghiz mix freely in their yourtas.
The villagers meet every evening after their day's labor
in the tea-house or Tchai-Khane, where they enjoy end-
less bowls of tea, with dried raisins and apricots, and also
enjoy each other's society. No women are of course ad-
mitted to these places, but boys, gaudily attired, and even
painted, form an unpleasant feature of the Tchai-Khanes
of the towns. There is always somebody who plays on
two-stringed native musical instruments. During the day
the food consists only of bread Nan, fruit and tea, but
after the work is done, everybody enjoys the pilau, rice
stewed with mutton; and as for hundreds of years, so now,
millions of men and women all over Turkistan sit down
at 6 p. m. to this their favorite food. The Sart eat with
their fingers, and as a rule keep themselves scrupulously
clean, but a life-long close touch with mutton-grease has
permeated their homes, clothes, and themselves with the
smell of it, and it is somewhat difficult for the European
to get accustomed to this. The town-people are mostly
merchants, and the men take life easily. There is a cer-
tain innate dignity in their bearing, and those of them
who are not shy of strangers are talkative and friendly
with them.
To my regret the space alloted does not permit per-
sonal reminiscences, which crowd before the mind's eye;
of long, lonely drives through deserts, mountains, or gar-
den-like luxuriant villages, to reach some bazaar with
the Scriptures ; of many an evening spent among villagers
in the tea-houses, and of the nights in the two-wheeled
cart put up in the Karavan-Sarai amongst camels, don-
keys, etc.; of the friendliness which was often shown,
even when the aim of the visit was clearly stated, namely,
to make known to them Jesus Christ as the supreme Lord
158 THE MOSLEM WORLD
and only Saviour; the quiet talks or lively discussions with
some Mullah in his low cell, or under the shady trees in
the court of the Madrasse; the rebuffs and contemptuous
glances met with more than once, but also the heart-touch
with some soul who might have looked out longingly for
just this message of forgiveness and newness of life. Mis-
sionaries everywhere treasure such memories.
Missionary Opportunity
Turkistan as a mission-field presents two, and only two,
difficulties: first, it is a Mohammedan country; sec-
ondly, for the last three years it has been closed by Bol-
shivist occupation. The former difficulty spells for some
of us "privilege"; and has been met with, and more or
less successfully overcome, by missionaries and missionary
Boards in other Mohammedan fields. As to the second
difficulty, the closed door, let us leave that with the Lord,
who, when His time shall have come, will "open and no
one shall shut."
The advantages of Turkistan as a mission field are
manifold, ist. The missionary society which starts work
in Turkistan will have a field which has never been under
the influence of either Greek or Roman Catholic
Churches, or of any other denomination; an altogether
fresh start may be made. Only a few solitary workers
have so far labored in Turkistan; two men were sent out
by the Swedish Missionary Society about fifteen years ago
to Bokhara, which they had to leave after a short stay.
Some German Mennonites have started medical work
amongst the Kirghiz. One of these men was agent for the
British and Foreign Bible Society at Tashkent till 1917.
A German couple, sent by some English missionary so-
ciety, had to leave at the beginning of the war because
they were aliens, and lastly I travelled from 19 10 to 19 16
all over Turkistan, till for war-reasons I was asked to
stop. I was permitted to work as long as that only be-
cause I did not represent any society, and was a Russian
citizen. Though we were able to do but little, yet the
TURKISTAN— A NEGLECTED MISSION FIELD— II 159
field has been reconnoitered, furrows have been made,
seed has been sown, and the few free-lances, who will
surely put their experience at the service of any evan-
gelical mission board which may take up Turkistan as
its field, stand before the Christian world with the mes-
sage of Joshua and Caleb : "The land is an exceedingly
good land, and if the Lord delights in us. He will bring
us in — let us go up at once and possess it!"
2d. The field is easy of access : it can be reached from
the North by the railroad from Russia, from the West by
the Caucasus (Baku) and the Caspian Sea; from the
South by Meshed in northeast Persia, which is the near-
est mission-station to Turkistan ; that of the Swedish Mis-
sionary Society at Kashgar, Chinese Turkistan is not so
easily reached.
3d. As stated before, a knowledge of Turkish or Per-
sian would help any missionary to make a start in Tur-
kistan till he acquired the Sart or Tadjik language.
4th. The Scriptures may be had, in whole or in part,
from the Bible Societies in all the languages that are
spoken in Turkistan with the exception of Tadjik.
Christian literature has also been prepared in the Sart
language, undenominational and upon a thoroughly evan-
gelical basis. (Translations into Sart from Nile Mission
Press, Cairo, and American Press, Beirut, Publications —
thanks partly to the generous help of the American Chris-
tian Literature Society for Mohammedans, U. S. A.)
The missionary can therefore start work at once, his hands
filled with good seed, and can prepare more at his leisure.
God, in His great household, has need of "all sorts and
conditions of men," and each of these would find in Tur-
kistan the field they are specially fitted for: the pioneer-
missionary will find the unexplored mountain-villages
and walled cities of Bokhara, and the closed door of Af-
ghanistan will appeal to him ; the scholar may whet his
sword against the Mullahs and Mudarriss of Bokhara,
Khokand and Tashkent; the men with linguistic gifts
have yet much of the Scriptures to translate into Sart, and
i6o THE MOSLEM WORLD
can make a start with their translation into Tadjik; the
man or woman with a bent for the "Social Gospel" will
find millions of children and "purdah" women looking
for help and freedom ; the medical missionary needs only
to open a dispensary or hospital to see it thronged with
sufferers; the missionary with the "Wander-lust" may
travel through the burning sand-steppes and up the forest
covered mountain-slopes to feed the lonely nomad or
mountaineer with the Word of Life; the missionary of
sedate habits has the choice of big cities like Tashkent,
Bokhara, Samarkand, etc., with scores of thousands of
inhabitants filling the streets and bazaars; the one who
just simply loves souls, because he loves Jesus who died to
save them, and the man or woman who craves to work
on the Mohammedan battle-field because Islam chal-
lenges his or her loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ, and calls
out to them to lift up His banner just where He is defied
— ah! there is place in Turkistan for all, and the blessing
of God on all of them — only let them come !
We have finished, and we ask our reader once more:
why should Turkistan remain "Passed by"? Can it be
the mind of God, to leave these 9,000,000 of His sheep
scattered in the wilderness? Can it be, that the feeble
though earnest efforts of the few "free lances" are all
God meant to do for this vast country? Will Turkistan
not also have her "Day of Grace"? Shall "this house lie
waste" forever? God forbid! May there not be amongst
those who have read these lines, some, or even many,
whom the Lord means to go out and to build the waste
places of Turkistan? jENNY DE MAYER.*
Samarkand.
•I wish to express my indebtedness to I. I. Geyer, of whose book "Turkistan," I have
made use for the geography, ethnography, statistics, etc., given in this paper, and to N.
Pavloff, from whose book, "The History of Turkistan," I have compiled the snort historic
sketch of my article. Due to lack of communication with Russia it was not possible for
me to add any news as to how Bolshevism has influenced the life and thought of the
Mohammedans of Turkistan. What I have written holds good up till 191 7. In any case
the spiritual need of the people has not been met but has rather increased by the wave of
lawlesaness, brutality and atheism which has swept over Turkistan, as it has over the rest
of Russia. This constitutes a still stronger appeal to the missionary's heart.
JBITHY DB MAYlt.
JELAL UD-DIN RUMI
A Moslem Saint with a Christian Heart'
On any Sunday afternoon, gathered about the windows
of a small house in a garden on Mt. Pagus overlooking the
city of Smyrna, can be seen eager crowds of Moslems.
The house is the Tekke, or Lodge Building of the Mev-
levi Order, and the attraction for the crowd is the whirl-
ing religious dance of the dervishes. To the casual visi-
tor the number of eager onlookers may have but little
significance, but to the thoughtful student of religious
affairs in the Near East the scene is full of suggestive
interest. The orthodox system of Islam seems, these days,
to be falling into disrepute. An Imam of one of the most
beautiful mosques in Smyrna remarked recently to a visi-
tor who complimented the beauty of the place of worship,
"Yes, the mosque is all right. The only trouble is with
the men who never come to pray." Of the twenty-one
medressehs, or theological schools, existing in Smyrna
before the war, not one is active today. When we men-
tioned this fact recently to a hodja in the main mosque of
the city, and asked where the future religious leaders were
to come from, he only shrugged his shoulders, and re-
plied as if utterly indifferent, "Who knows?"
In contrast to this lack of interest in the official five
prayers of Mohammed and the other outward forms of
Islam is the apparently undiminished interest in the mys-
tic side of the faith. Psychic phenomena as evidence of
religion seem to be appealing to the modern Turkish
mind as well as to some of his more educated brothers in
the Western world. Recently a party of us attended in
Smyrna a zikr of the Rufai Order, the famous Howling
i[We would call the attention of our readers to a monograph on the same subject
by CI. Huart under the title Les Saints des Derviches Towrn^urJ (translated from the Per-
Stan with notes) Leroux, Paris, 1918. — Ed.]
161
i62 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Dervishes. It was a formal occasion, and representa-
tives of many orders were present, Mevlevis in their long
brown hats, Qadiris with their green turbans, Semanis in
red, Marafis in black, and others. A hundred or more took
part in the noisy service which lasted for two hours, and as
many more spectators stood about in wondering curiosity.
Every week the attendance at this zikr shows the same in-
terest.
A few days later we attended a gathering of Mevlevis
in the Tekke already mentioned. My own interest in
this zikr was great, because among the dancers was a
young boy who is an eager student in the International
College, and who is a member of my curriculum Bible
class. Though I came before the service began,
crowds were already gathered at the door and about the
windows. Personal friends made a way for me into
the gallery, where I watched the strange service in-
augurated by Jalal ud-Din Rumi 700 years ago. A
young lad about fifteen, the brother of my student der-
vish, was officiating as Sheikh, having recently been
raised to that office on the death of his father. Three
times around the room the dervishes slowly marched,
bowing solemnly before the Mihrab and before the
tombs of the departed. Then, to the weird tune of reed
pipe and drum, they began their whirling motion, arms
outstretched, right palm up and left down, head bowed
over right shoulder. The aged whirled slowly, but
the younger ones, one surely not over twelve, at a dizzy-
ing speed. Several times they paused, and with
right toe over the left, bowed to the Sheikh, then began
their strange motion, said to be symbolic of the motion of
the human soul about the soul of God.
That such services as this are kept up week after
week with the eager interest on the part of outsiders,
while medressehs die out and official prayers at the
mosque languish, is suggestive of the possible fact that
in this part of the Moslem world, vital Islam is to be
JELAL UD-DIN RUMI 163
understood more in the mystical manifestations than in
its formal orthodox rites.
If this is true it is more than ever worth while to seek
for an understanding of those great figures in the past
who have sought God through the love of the heart, and
who have left to their still eager disciples today their
interpretation of the only true Way to God, the great
Reality. It was with this in mind that I visited the Mev-
levis on a week day to make inquiry of my Sheikh
friend regarding the founder of his order, Jelal ud-Din
Rumi, said by Professor Ethe in the Encyclopedia
Britannica to be ''the greatest pantheistic writer of all
ages." Quite naturally I found that my friend, having
only recently come into the headship of his Order, was
only beginning his studies in Persian and Arabic, and
knew almost nothing about the founder of his Order.
But I was surprised to find that the other dervishes also
were unacquainted with even the main facts in the life
of the one whom they call Mevlana, ''Our Lord." In-
deed, it turned out as it so often has in other attempts at
investigation that information could be found in twenty
minutes in one's own private English library that it took
weeks to find by zealous inquiry from the initiated der-
vishes themselves.
Finally, however, in a tiny back room opening into a
shop in the bazaars, the only light coming from a hole in
the roof, I had the privilege of meeting a Mevlevi
teacher of some learning, who gave me, in substance, the
following account of the great Moslem mystic:
Mevlana Jelal ud-Din Rumi was born in 1207 in
Balkh, in the Province of Khorasan, Persia. Jelal ud-
Din's father, Baha ud-Din was a learned professor and
so popular that the jealousy of the ruler was aroused to
an extent necessitating Baha ud-Din's departure in 1212
from the city. Stopping for a time in Nishapur, they
visited Sheikh Ferid ud-Din Attar, who took the young
Jelal in his arms, caressed him, and prophesying that he
i64 THE MOSLEM WORLD
would become a great man, blessed him and presented
him with a copy of one of his own books, Asrar Nama
(The Book of Secrets.) From Nishapur the family
travelled to Bagdad and to Mecca. Afterward, for
four years, a residence was made in Malatia, and later
in Laranda, the present Karaman. For seven years they
remained here, until finally Ala ud-Din Kay-Kubad, the
Seljuk Emperor, hearing of the fame of Baha ud-Din,
invited him to Konia, where, in 1231, the father died
leaving his son to inherit and add to his own pious and
learned reputation.
It was while away from Konia studying in Aleppo
and Syria that Jelal ud-Din began to study from one of
his father's old pupils the mystic sciences. In 1244
when he returned to Konia he met Shemsi Tabriz, with
whose spiritual perfection he fell in love, and with whom
for fifteen months he constantly associated. This man
was not a learned man, but he possessed a strange power
of attracting the warm love of all who talked with him.
After the death of Shemsi Tabriz, Jelal ud-Din began
wearing the long hat and flowing coat of his friend, and
so inaugurated the custom in dress followed by the
Mevlevis of today.
Jelal ud-Din's most famous literary work is the Mas-
navi, a great poem, written in Persian, divided into six
parts and containing two thousand six hundred and
sixty-six couplets. Ten years were spent in composing
this work. Today this book is the inspiration of the
Mevlevis and their mystic order.
In 1273 Jelal ud-Din died and was buried beside the
tomb of his father.
So much my Mevlevi friend told me he had been able
to gather about the life of Jelal ud-Din, but only by
reference to some eight or ten books. In his eyes the
greatness of Jelal ud-Din evidently rested largely on the
wonder-miracles, stories of which are current in consid-
erable number.
JELAL UD-DIN RUMI 165
The spiritual tendency of Jelal ud-Din is emphasized
in a book called, ''Anecdotes of Our Lord, Jelal ud-Din
Rumi," which had been sent recently to the late Sheikh,
and which, as yet unread by him, was loaned me by the
present Sheikh.
According to this book, recognized by the Mevlevis
themselves, Jelal ud-Din is called the Sultan of the
Saints and the Last of the Perfect. In Damascus,
Aleppo and elsewhere he studied under the greatest teach-
ers of his time, and became proficient in Arabic, juris-
prudence, logic, and ''all other things." Yet all the time
Jelal ud-Din's interest was in the divine truths that are
hidden from human eyes. Shemsi Tabriz taught him
that by whirling higher states of consciousness could be
attained. For the common people this whirling was
said to be forbidden, because it would increase the force
of their temptations. Correspondingly ecstatic love
would be increased in the case of true seekers after God.
During the whirling all is forgotten save God. It is
said that some of Jelal ud-Din's best sayings were
uttered while in a trance state brought on by whirling.
Beautiful and loud singing was made to contribute
also to the deepening of the emotional effect on the heart.
Every movement in the w^hirling was felt to be symbolic
of a spiritual reality. The whirling itself, for example,
signifies unity. The whirlers are able to see the truth
on all sides, and share in its beauties. To beat the feet
and to leap also symbolize spiritual aspiration. To leap
means to reach the highest universe out of the excess of
ecstasy. To beat the feet is to kick aside the miserable
w^ordly things in an attempt to soar to heights. To hold
the hand open has several meanings. First, from joy of
reaching God, and looking for perfection. Secondly, it
means the victory over oneself which is the greatest Jihad
(Holy War.) To bend during intervals means humility
and respect. "To the living person," Jelal ud-Din says,
1 66 THE MOSLEM WORLD
'Svhirling is rest of the soul" The full meaning of the
whirling, he assures us, is only to be felt by those who
have actually experienced the ecstasy of it.
There is a curious human touch in Jelal ud-Din's de-
fense of his use of poetry. He says that in his own coun-
try it was considered disgraceful to speak in poetry, and
that if he had remained there it would have been im-
possible. Even in Konia he tried his best not to use it,
but in spite of all efforts he failed to restrain the ex-
pression of his feeling in this way. "There is a vast
difference," he says, "between the poetry of the saints
and that of the mere poets. For the saints lose them-
selves in union with God, while the poetry of the poets
is full of unspiritual imaginings. Their object is to show
their knowledge and hence their poetry is selfish. The
saints, on the other hand, do not show themselves, but
show God in their poetry. "After me," he goes on to say,
"the Masnavi will take my place and lead you."
That Jelal ud-Din's spiritual experience was a deep,
and, to him, tremendously real one, is evidenced by the
extreme asceticism into which he was led. It is said that
after he first met Shemsi Tabriz they lived for six months
without feeling the need of eating or drinking. Though
this doubtless refers to fasting in the Moslem sense of not
eating or drinking by day, it is said that whenever the fast
was broken it was by not over ten mouthfuls of a simple
kind of food. He was proud of being poor, and happier
when there was little food in the house. He would then
say to his family, "Now the light of poverty is shining in
your faces." No word regarding grief or pleasure at
things in this world was heard to come from his mouth.
In the whirling he would entirely lose himself in a feeling
of unity with God, to such an extent that once in winter
he was so carried away with emotion that he bowed his
face to the ground in an ecstasy, and the tears that he shed
froze his beard to the ground. In this state he remained,
either unconscious or lost in meditation, until his disciples
found him the next morning.
JELAL UD-DIN RUMI 167
Yet even in the midst of this extreme ecstasy he seems
to have been singularly open to the appeal of human need.
He said on one occasion, "I hate to offend any heart." He
treated kindly even those who interrupted him in the
midst of his whirling. Once a drunkard tried so to in-
terfere with him, and was forcibly ejected by a disciple.
Jelal ud-Din turned to this disciple and said, "He drank
the wine, but you have acted like a drunkard in his place."
For beggars he ever had a ready ear. Even his coat
and shirt he would give away. In order to be able to do
this the more readily it is said that he wore these garments
habitually open in front. The coat thus given away
would often be sold for a considerable sum to a rich man
who would wear it in the hope of so gaining merit both in
this world and the next.
Such a reputation for sanctity made it easy for people
to believe that he had mysterious powers of vision, that
hidden things were known to him. If his servant was in
financial distress he perceived the trouble as if by tele-
pathy, and relieved it. Once he is said to have run into a
house and shouted to the occupants to get out. Imme-
diately afterward the roof of the house fell in. When
such reports of his powers were spread abroad it is no won-
der that the people crowded him as he passed through the
streets, and begged him to answer their questions about
life, and that even the little children would leave their
games to go and kiss his hands as he passed by.
But perhaps the real spirit of the man can be seen better
than in any other way through quotations from his writ-
ings. His pantheistic philosophy, with its possibilities
for both good and evil, is well expressed in the following
poem on "The True Mystic."
The man of God is drunken without wine.
The man of God is full without meat.
The man of God is distraught and bewildered.
The man of God has no food or sleep.
The man of God is a king neath dervish-cloAk.
The man of God is a treasure in a ruin.
The man of God is not of air and earth.
i68 THE MOSLEM WORLD
The man of God is not of fire and water.
The man of God is a boundless sea.
The man of God rains pearls without a cloud.
The man of God hath hundred moons and skies.
The man of God hath hundred suns.
The man of God is made wise by the Truth.
The man of God is not learned from book.
The man of God is beyond infidelity and religion.
To the man of God right and wrong are alike.
The man of God has ridden away from Not-being.
The man of God is gloriously attended.
The man of God is concealed, Shamsi Din.
The man of God do thou seek and find!
His independence from orthodox religion either Chris-
tian or Moslem and his assurance of the reality of his
own mystic experience are shown in this translation:
Lo, for I to myself am unknown, now in God's name what must I do?
I adore not the Cross nor the Crescent, I am not a Giaour nor a Jew.
East nor West, land nor sea is my home. I have kin nor with angel
nor gnome,
I am wrought not of fire nor of foam, I am shaped not of dust nor of
dew.
I was born not in China afar, not in Saqsin and not in Bulgar;
Not in India, where five rivers are, nor in 'Iraq nor Khorasan I grew.
Not in this world nor that world I dwell, not in Paradise, neither in
Hell;
Not from Eden and Rizwan I fell, not from Adam my lineage I drew.
In a place beyond uttermost place, in a tract without shadow of trace.
Soul and body transcending, I live in the soul of My Loved One anew !
A Moslem in outward practice, he succeeded in finding
a spiritual meaning in Mohammed's required rites, as for
example :
Beats there a heart within that breast of thine,
Then compass reverently its sacred shrine;
For the essential Kaaba is the heart.
And no proud pile of perishable art.
When God ordained the pilgrim rite, that sign
Was meant to lead thy thoughts to things divine;
A thousand times he treads that round in vain
Who gives one human heart a needless pain.
Leave wealth behind ; bring God thy heart, Whose light
Will guide thy footsteps through the gloomiest night.
God spurns the riches of a thousand coflFers,
And says, The saint is he his heart who ofiFers ;
Nor gold nor silver seek I, but above
All gifts of the heart, and buy it with My love;
Yea I one sad contrite heart which men despise
\
JELAL UD-DIN RUMI i6g
More than My throne and fixed decree I prize;
The meanest heart that ever man has spurned
Is a clear glass where God may be discerned.
The following poem shows that in him the influence of
Jesus was felt as in few, if any, Moslem thinkers :
Spring may come, but on granite will grow no green thing;
It was barren in winter, 'tis barren in spring;
And granite man's heart is, till grace intervene,
And, crushing it, clothe the long barren with green.
When the fresh breath of Jesus shall touch the heart's core,
It will live, it will breathe, it will blossom once more.
Seeing in the story of the triumphal entry a symbolic
story of the contest between spirituality and sensuality he
writes :
You deserted Jesus, a mere ass to feed,
In a crowd of asses you would take the lead;
Those who follow Jesus, win to wisdom's ranks ;
Those who fatten asses get a kick for thanks.
Pity keep for Jesus, pity not the ass.
Let not fleshly impulse intellect surpass.
If an ass could somewhat catch of Jesus' mind,
Classed among the sages he himself would find ;
Though because of Jesus you may suffer woe.
Still from Him comes healing; never let Him go.
Jelal ud-Din apparently knew well the Christian doc-
trine of Christ, but he himself repudiated it.
"The Son of God!" Nay, leave the word unsaid.
Say, "God is one, the pure, the single Truth."
Nowhere, however, is the idealism of Jelal ud-Din ex-
pressed better than in his final charge to his disciples, as
given by Claude Field in his "Mystics and Saints of Is-
lam:" "I bid you fear God openly and in secret, guard
against excess in eating and drinking and speech; keep
aloof from evil companionship ; be diligent in fasts and
self-renunciation, and bear wrongs patiently. The best
man is he who helps his fellow-men, and the best speech is
a brief one which leads to knowledge. Praise be to God
alone."
International College, KiNG BiRGE.
Paradise, Smyrna,
AN ANCIENT ACCOUNT OF INDIA
AND CHINA
Described by two Mohammedan Travellers of the Ninth Century.
[In Amoy, on March 15, 1921, while hunting through some old and
worm-eaten mission archives, I came across Volume One of the Chinese
Repository, in which I found a Review of "an Ancient Account of India
and China, by two Mohammedan travellers, who went to those parts
in the 9th century, translated from the Arabic by the late learned
Eusebius Renaudot. With notes, illustrations and inquiries by the
same hand. London : Printed for Sam. Harding, at Bible and Anchor,
on the pavement in St. Martin's Lane, mdccxxxiii."
I rather doubt the suggestion that one of the Canton Pagodas was
ever a minaret: the Flower Pagoda has certainly no sign of Islam
about it, and moreover is said to be 1300 years old. The other pagoda,
I have never examined, but when in 191 2 I was taken round the
Canton mosques by one of the missionaries, we did not visit either
pagoda, which shows at any rate that my companion was ignorant of
the theory. I am sorry I had not read the article before my visit to
Canton, the second time, on March 11 last; but it is more than
probable, that in the course of your recent work on Moslems in China,
you have collected enough information to be able to pronounce definitely
upon this question. It is most important to note that according to the
first traveller there were no Chinese Moslems or Arabic speaking
Chinese in China in the 9th century. This is further evidence against
the pagoda being a minaret.
The mention of a massacre of Jews, Christians, and Parsees in
Canton, a. d. 877, strikes me as a point of great historical interest.
I wish I could identify the names of the various places of the route
from Arabia to China.
I have abbreviated a few paragraphs, but have not altered the spelling
of "the Chinese Repository," except in one or two places; hence
"Soliman," "Soltan," "Kotbat."] C. S. G. Mylrea.
Approaching the city of Canton, the traveller sees ris-
ing before him, within the walls, two lofty pagodas; one
of which he perceives as he comes near to them, is quite
different from the other, and from those which he saw
when coming up the river. On inquiry concerning this
singular one, he might be informed that it is a Moham-
medan mosque, built about a thousand years ago; that at
the present time a community of several hundred souls,
with books and teachers of their faith, live near the
170
AN ANCIENT ACCOUNT OF INDIA AND CHINA 171
mosque; and that some of the teachers are able to write
the Arabic character with a tolerable degree of correct-
ness. Still further he might be informed, by those who
travelled from Peking to Canton in 18 18, that Moham-
medans were found in every part of their journey and
frequently holding stations in the government.
These few facts would, perhaps, induce him to inquire
again, At what time, and in what way, did the Moham-
medans enter China? And, what records are there, that
will give information on this subject? The account given
by the two travellers is worthy of notice, not only in ref-
erence to these inquiries, but, because it will serve to
illustrate the character of the Chinese at an early
period
During the early periods of the Christian era, while
the fires of genius shone bright on the banks of the Nile
and Tiber, and the Ptolemies were collecting from the
four quarters of the earth, many of the most splendid
works of taste and erudition, the rays of science suddenly
took a new direction, and Arabia was the place where
they met. Although the career of ^'the Prophet and
Apostle of God" the son of Abdallah, seemed the har-
binger of anything but good to the progress of letters,
yet the 8th and 9th centuries formed a bright period in
the history of Arabia
Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, returned from his
travels in the East, near the close of the 13th century.
The Portuguese first doubled the Cape of Good Hope,
in A. D. 1497. ''But," said Renaudot in his preface, ''we
may be satisfied that our two authors are more ancient,
and that the two dates they give, the one of the year 237
of the Hegira which is that of the first traveller, and the
other of the year of the same 264, when a great revolution
happened in China, are true and just.". . . .The best proof
however, of the correctness of the "ancient account," is
its internal evidence; of this the reader shall be his own
judge
173 THE MOSLEM WORLD
In the manuscript of the first traveller, says the trans-
lator, there is a leaf or more wanting where the author
begins to treat of China. The first extract, which we
make from this part of the work, seems to refer to this
city, which he calls Canfu, i. e., Kwangchow Foo, or as
it is now written by Europeans, Canton. ^'Canfu is the
port of all the ships and goods of the Arabs who trade in
China; but fires are there very frequent, because the
houses are built with nothing but wood, or else with
bamboo ; besides the merchants are often lost in going and
coming; or they are often plundered; or obliged to make
too long a stay in harbor, or to sell their goods out of the
country subject to the Arabs, and there make up their
cargo. In short, ships are under a necessity of waiting a
considerable time in refitting, not to speak of many other
causes of delay.". ...
The second traveller, alluding to the "causes of delay,"
says "since much is related to show the reason why the
voyages to China are interrupted, and how the country
has been ruined, many customs abolished, and the empire
divided, I will here declare what I know of the causes
of this revolution."
After briefly noticing its commencement, and the leader
of the rebellion which occasioned it, he adds, "His hands
thus strengthened, and himself in a condition to under-
take anything, he betrayed his design of subduing the
empire to himself, and straight marched to Canfu, one
of the most noted cities in China, and at that time the port
of all the Arabian merchants. This city standi upon a
great river, some days distant from the entrance, so that
the water here is fresh; but the citizens shutting their
gates upon him, he resolved to besiege the place, and the
siege lasted a great while. This was transacted in the
year of the Hegira 264 and of Christ 877. At last he
became master of the city, and put all the inhabitants to
the sword. There are persons fully acquainted with the
affairs of China, who assure us, that besides the Chinese
AN ANCIENT ACCOUNT OF INDIA AND CHINA 173
who were massacred upon this occasion, there perished
one hundred and twenty thousand Mohammedans, Jews,
Christians and Parsees, who were there on account of
traffic. The number of the professors of those four re-
ligions, who thus perished, is exactly known ; because the
Chinese are extremely nice in the account they keep of
them. He also cut down the mulberry trees, and almost
all the trees of other kinds ; but we speak of the mulberry
in particular, because the Chinese carefully cultivate it
for the sake of its leaf, wherewith they subsist and propa-
gate their silk-worms. This devastation is the cause why
silk has failed, and that the trade which used to be driven
with it, in the countries under the Arabs, is quite
stagnated.
If what is here said of the ''thousands" put to the sword,
and of the ''crowds" returning, be true, it proves that the
intercourse between Eastern and Western Asia was, at
that period, of a most interesting character, and of vast
extent Neither of the two travellers tell us at what
time their countrymen first came hither
The first writer says, "Soliman, the merchant, relates
that at Canfu, which is the principal place for merchants,
there is a Mohammedan appointed judge over those of
his religion, by the authority of the Emperor of China;
and that he is judge of all the Mohammedans, who resort
to those parts. Upon festival days he performs the public
services with the Mohammedans, and pronounces the
sermon or kotbat, (sic. C. S. G. M.) which he concludes,
in the usual form, with prayers for the Sultan of the
Moslems. The merchants of Irak who trade hither, are
no ways dissatisfied with his conduct, or his administration
in the post he is invested with ; because his actions, and
the judgments he gives, are just and equitable, and com-
formable to the Koran, and according to the Moham-
medan jurisprudence."
The same writer remarks, in another part of his
work, that he "knows not that there is anyone of the
174 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Chinese who has embraced Mohammedanism or speaks
Arabic."....
At the present time (1832 C. S. G. M.) no Arabian
ships, as such, come to China; nor do any Chinese ships
reach Calcutta, though they are frequently seen, and in
considerable numbers, at Penang, at Bangkok, and in
many of the ports of the Eastern Archipelago. The fol-
lowing is an abridged account of the course to China,
as given by the first traveller.
^*As for the places whence ships depart, and those also
they touch at, many persons declare that the navigation is
performed in the following order. Most of the Chinese
ships take in their cargo at Siraf, where also they ship
their goods which come from Bassorah, and other ports;
and this they do, because in this sea, there are frequent
storms and shoal water in many places. When ships have
loaded at Siraf, they there water also; and from thence
make sail for a place called Maskat, which is in the ex-
tremity of the Province of Oman, about two hundred
leagues from Siraf. From Maskat ships take their depar-
ture for the Indies: and first they touch at Kaucammali ;
and from Maskat to this place, is a month's sail with the
wind aft. Kaucammali is a frontier place, and the chief
arsenal in the province of the same name; and here the
Chinese ships put in and are in safety. Having watered
at this last place, they begin to enter the Sea of Harkand :
and having sailed through it, they touch at a place called
Lajabalus, where the inhabitants understand not the Ara-
besque, or any other language in use with merchants.
From this place, ships steer towards Calabar, the name
of a place and a kingdom on the coast, to the right hand
beyond India. In ten days after this, ships reach a place
called Betuma, where they may water. It is worth the
notice, that in all the islands and peninsulas of the Indies,
they find water when they dig for it. In ten days from the
last mentioned place, they arrive at Sonef ; here is fresh
water, and hence comes the aromatic wood. Having
AN ANCIENT ACCOUNT OF INDIA AND CHINA 175
watered at this place, it is ten days' passage to Sandarfulat,
an island where is fresh water. Then they steer upon the
Sea of Sanji, and so to the Gates of China; for so they
call certain rocks and shoals in the sea, between which is
a narrow strait, through which ships pass. It requires
a month to sail from Sandarfulat to China, and it takes
up eight whole days to steer clear of these rocks. When
a ship has got through these Gates, she, with a tide of
flood, goes into a fresh water gulf, and drops anchor in
the chief port of China, which is that of Canfu; and here
they have fresh water, both from springs and rivers, as
they have also in most of the othef ports of China.". . .
Of the situation of foreign residents in China, the first
traveller says : 'When merchants enter China by sea, the
Chinese seize on their cargo, and convey it to warehouses;
and so put a stop to their business for six months, till the
last merchantman be arrived. Then they take three in
ten, or 30 per cent, of each commodity, and return the
rest to the merchant. If the Emperor wants any par-
ticular thing, his officers have a right to take it preferably
to any other person whatsoever; and paying for it to the
utmost penny it is valued at, they dispatch this business
immediately, and without the least injustice.". . .
Referring again to the question, — At what time, and in
what way did the Mohammedans first enter China? — we
quote from Renaudot: ''It is the belief of many that the
Mohammedans went first to China by land, and that the
track pursued by some modern travellers, ought to point
out to us the road the ancients may have taken. Marco
Polo, say they, went into China by the way of Tartary;
Mandeville almost trod in his very footsteps; Jenghiz
Khan, the first emperor of the Moguls, conquered a part
of China, and marched thereto from the ancient Mogul-
istan or Turkestan; we have a Persian account of an
embassy from a Tartar prince to the emperor of China,
and this ambassador went also by land; at the beginning
of this century, Benet Goez, a Jesuit, travelled also from
176 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the Indies to Peking; the fathers Grueber and Orville
did, a few years ago, perform the same journey the Mus-
covite ambassadors do when they go to China, and they
even assure us, this route which is not always the same,
is pretty well frequented by the caravans of the merchants
of upper Asia. These different routes are pricked down
in the map of Cathay, published by Kircher in his China
Illustrata. All these instances sufficiently prove, that we
may go to China by land, and there is no doubt of it; but
the way held by a small number of travellers does not
seem to prove that, for certain, the same was held by the
caravans and merchants; which ought to have been the
case, for such a number of Mohammedans to get into
China that way. For, according to the old method of
travelling in caravans, it was a very hard matter for the
merchants of Persia and Mesopotamia to go thither by
land, unless the track was well frequented ; and it seems
not only certain that it was far from being so, but also,
that it was considered only as a by-way — a short cut."
To put this matter in the clearest light possible, Renaudot
stops here to ^'survey the extent" of the Mohammedan
empire, at the time under consideration; and then says:
"But this way by land, whether by Samarcand, by Cabul,
by Gaznah, or by Cashgar, was very impracticable in the
days of our Arabs, exclusive of the natural inconveniences
of the roads they were to travel. All the trade of the East
was then in the hands of the merchants of Persia, Bas-
sorah, and of the coast quite down to the Red Sea, which
was the center of the Egyptian trade, and partly of the
Mediterranean. They traded to the Indies by land, in
many places, and particularly at Cabul. The products of
Arabia, Egypt, Persia and the adjacent provinces, they
exchanged with the merchants of Turkestan and the
Indies, for musk, precious stones, crystals, spices and
drugs; it was almost impossible for them to go farther,
or to drive a trade quite home to China, because of the
desert — a dangerous track; and still more because of the
AN ANCIENT ACCOUNT OF INDIA AND CHINA 177
continual wars between the Arabs and the princes of
Turkestan." It would occupy too much time to follow
the argument through all its details; the result is given
in these words: ''All that has hitherto been offered, and
much more that might be added, seems evidently to prove,
that the Mohammedans first went to China by sea "
The learned translator brings proof positive to show,
that the Arabs did not steer by the compass : and gives it
as his opinion that, at first, they only went to Malabar
and Ceylon, but in time venturing farther than the Ro-
mans had been, they, from isle to isle, at length discov-
ered the shores of China. Their kalifs (sic. C. S. G. M.)
never endeavored to have potent fleets; they could have
no temptation to make farther discoveries, or new con-
quests by sea, or to consult the interest of their trading
subjects in foreign parts. Wherefore, it is very probable
that the first adventurers who undertook this voyage, were
urged thereto by the calamities of civil wars, which, hav-
ing reduced many families to w^ant, obliged them to seek
a livelihood by trade. ''Hence we may pretty clearly
discern how the Mohammedans first got to China; and
it seems that they did not force an admittance as else-
where, but chiefly, insinuated themselves under the pre-
tence of trade."
The sum of the whole seems to be, that the Moham-
medans came to China at a very early period of their era,
both by sea and land, but chiefly by sea, and almost solely
for the sake of commerce.
We have no means of ascertaining the number of
Mohammedans now in China (1832 C. S. G. M.) ; in
the western parts of the empire their number is consider-
able, and everywhere they live unmolested in the exercise
of their peculiar rites. Early in the last century (1700
C. S. G. M.) their number was "computed at about five
hundred thousand."
C. Stanley G. Mylrea.
Kuweit, Arabia,
CHRISTIANS AND ARABIC WRITING.*
The first service which the Christian Arabs rendered
Arabia was teaching the Arab tribes the art of writing.
The history of Arabic writing and its sources testify to
this fact. When Islam appeared in the second decade of
the seventh century A. D.^ writing was not a new art in
the Arabian Peninsula, as has been asserted by some. In
reality writing was extant in some sections only to the
exclusion of others. The people of Yaman had a kind
of writing which they called Musnad, current among
the Bani-Himyar. It has a marked resemblance to Ethi-
opic writing. The letters of this style of alphabet were
detached from one another. In late years the European
travellers, Carnot, Halevi and Glazer found thousands
of traces of this writing, the earliest of which go back to
a period of about four or five hundred years before Christ.
Others are documents written in the centuries after Christ
until the sixth century A. D. This writing, which these
scholars discovered and published, is Sabean, not Arabic,
as some like Ibn Khaldun have thought. (Ibn Khaldun
— Paris Edition, Vol. 2, p. 341 — "And the Himyar had
a writing called Musnad, and from them the Mudar
learned Arabic writing, but they did not become very
much skilled in it.")
There was another script current in the north and west
of Arabia, which is called the Nabatean. It appeared in
two forms: one, the uncial, was boldly executed and
stereotyped in form. It was common especially in North
Arabia, and was used on coins and in architectural decora-
tion. This is related to the Aramaic script called the
Astrangli. The other form of the Nabatean is the cur-
sive, commonly used in recording commercial transac-
tions, deeds and similar documents. These two forms of
•Translated from Chapter i of Father Cheiko's Christian Literature in Arabia before
Islam. (Arabic edition; the Jesuit Press, Beirut.)
178
CHRISTIANS AND ARABIC WRITING 1 79
the Nabatean are the origin of Arabic writing. The
Arabs call it ''al-Jazm/' a name which they have taken
from the nations surrounding them; and there are abun-
dant proofs for the statement, that the Christians taught
the Arabs the art of writing. Either they invented it, or
they were the medium of transferring it from some othei
nation to the Arabs.
Arabs who have investigated the source of Arabic writ-
ing have ascribed it to men of Bawlan, of the tribe of Tai,
who were of the Christian religion, living at Al-Anbar;
and they put it in the form of the Syriac. (As-Suyuti
says in Al-Muzhar, I, p. 39 : — ^The first to use our script,
that is al-Jazm, were Maramir ibn Marra, Aslam ibn
Sidra and Amir ibn Jadra, Arabs from Tai. They taught
it to the people of Al-Anbar, and from them writing
spread in 'Iraq, Hira and elsewhere. Bishr ibn Abd
al-Malik, after he learned it, taught it to his friend Harb
ibn Ummayya, with whom he had had commercial rela-
tions. These two travelled later to Mecca, where a num-
ber of the Quraish learned it from Harb, prior to the time
of Islam. This script is called al-Jazm because it is
cut off, or a branch of Himyari writing. Shardhami also
learned a little of it from the Quraish ....")
Ibn Abbas is also quoted in Al-Fihrist as saying, 'The
first to write in Arabic were three men from Bawlan,
which was a tribe inhabiting Al-Anbar. They together
composed the connected and disconnected letters. Their
names are Maramir ibn Marra (or Marwa), Aslam ibn
Sidra and 'Amir ibn Jadra (or Jadla) . Maramir shaped
the letters, Aslam spaced and connected them, and 'Amir
put on the vowel markings. The people of Hira on being
asked, 'Trom where did you obtain the Arabic writing,''
replied, "From the people of Al-Anbar." (Similarly
there is the testimony of Ibn 'Abdu Rabbu in Al-'Aqd
al-Farid, Vol. 2, page 205.) "They related that three
men of Tai, Miramir ibn Marra, Aslam ibn Sidra and
'Amir ibn Jadra gathered at a certain spot and formed
the (Arabic) writing, modeling the spelling after the
i8o THE MOSLEM WORLD
spelling of the Syriac. The people of Al-Anbar learned
it; but when Islam came, only a few people were able to
write Arabic." Baladhuri in Futuh al-Buldan (p. 471)
makes the same statement, except that he says Baqqa
instead of Buqa (a spot). Baqqa was a city near Al-
Anbar. He further remarks about Bishr: ''Bishr ibn
Abd al-Malik was the brother of Ukaidar ibn Abd al-
Malik, ibn Abd al-Jann al-Kindi. As-Sakuni, a Chris-
tian, originally from Daumat Al-Jandal came to Hira,
and remained there for some time. Now Bishr learned
the Arabic script from the people of Hira. Thence he
went to Mecca on business. Sufyan, ibn Umayya ibn Abu
ash-Shams and Abu Qais, ibn Manaf, ibn Zohara, ibn
Kilab, saw him writing and asked him to teach them the
script, so he taught them how to spell. The three, Bishr,
Sufyan and Abu Qais then went to Tayif with merchan-
dise. Abu Ghailan ibn Salama, the Thaqfite, who accom-
panied them, learned the script. Later Bishr left the
others and went to Diyar Madar, where "Amir ibn Zurara
ibn *Udas learned the script from him. ^Amr became
known as 'Amr the Scribe. Bishr then came to Syria,
where the people learned the script from him. A man of
the tribe of Kalb was also taught by these three from Tai,
who in turn taught it to the people of Wadi al-Qura. He
came to Wadi al-Qura, and while he dwelt there he taught
some of the inhabitants.
(Al Kindi, the poet, of Daumat Al-Jandal, in speaking
to the Quraish said,
"Do not disavow the favors of men to you, for Maimum the
Naqiba vv^as most illustrious.
He brought the Jazm script, w^hereby you held fast the wealth
you might have wasted.
And you saved that of which you had been neglectful, and
stored up what might have been spent.
So in the continuous use of your pens, you imitated the writers
of Kisra and Caesar.
Until you dispensed with the Musnad of Himyar, and the
sayings of Himyar were not recorded in books.")
This script was afterwards ascribed to Al-Kufa, when
CHRISTIANS AND ARABIC WRITING i8i
the scholars of Al-Kufa took pains to improve it ac the
beginning of the Islamic era.
The second script, or the modern Arabic writing, was
evidently taken by the Arabs from the Christians of
Al-Nabt, who lived in adjoining sections of the Hijaz,
and from the monks of Madjan and Wadi al-Qura, who
are mentioned by the Arab poets. This is supported by
the statement of some writers that the founders of Arabic
writing were from Tasm and Jadis. Ibn Al Nadim says
in Al-Fihrist, and also Al-Hajj Khalifa in Kashf Al-
Dhunun 3: 145, 'They, that is the founders, were kings
of Madjan." Ibn Al-Nadim and Al-Hajj also record
the opinion which claims that they built the writing on
the letters of their names, Abjad, Hawwaz, Hutti, Kala-
mun, Safas, Qarshat. That Ibn Al-Nadim and Al-Hajj
mention them as from Madyan, and Al-Baladhuri as from
Wadi al-Qura substantiates what we have already said.
Scholars have found many examples of the so-called
modern Arab script which date back to the time of the
Kufic. Therefore it is a mistake for Al-Qalqashandi to
state that the Kufic is the original Arabic, and that the
naskhi, or so-called Modern Arabic, was invented by Ibn
Maqalla in the third century A. H. In either case we have
seen that the Christians deserve the credit for the spread
of writing among the Arabs.
In addition to the above testimony, which assigns the
origin of writing among the Arabs to Christians, there
are also references in the translations and verses of the
poets to the spread of writing among the Christians of
Arabia before the Hijrah. There is a story given by the
author of Al-Aghani and others of the ancient writers
about Tarfa and Al-Mutalammis, and the two letters
that were sent through them by 'Amr ibn Hind to his
prefect Muka'bar in Bahrein. ^Amr made out that he
was ordering something for their good, whereas, in reality
he plotted their destruction. Al-Mutalammis opened his
letter and gave it to an 'Ibadi boy from Hira, and he read
to him as follows : ''In Thy Name O God, from 'Amr ibn
ig2 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Hind to Al-Muka'bar. If this letter should come to you
by the hand of Al-Mutalammis, cut off his hands and his
feet and bury him alive," and when he learned its con-
tents he fled; but as for Tarfa, he did not take the
trouble to inquire about the contents of the letter he bore,
and consequently was killed. The tale of the letter of
Al-Mutalammis became a proverb applicable to all who
were deceived into their own destruction. In the story
there is proof that the 'Ibadin, who were a Christian
people in the region of Hira, knew writing and taught it
to their youths. In Al-Aghani it is also said that the
father of Al-Maraqqash the Great, entrusted his sons to
a Christian from Hira, who taught them the script.
There is further evidence from the Mu'allaqat, the
poems said to have been written on silk and hung on the
curtains of the Ka^aba in Mecca. The most noted of
these poems were written by poets from Christian tribes,
as Taghallub and Bakr and Kanda, in whose writings
there is a clear proof of the spread of the art of writing
among the Christians.
Other proofs for this in the Christian poets are the
lines of such as Hatim Al-Ta'i (Al-Aghani 7: 132).
"Do you recall the ruins of a mansion, like miniature writing
on vellum."
Or as Mirar ibn Munqadh says in describing a ruin,
"And you see there perpendicular forms, like the letter 4am'
in the revelation of the Psalms."
And also Lubaid,
"God has shielded the ruins from torrents, as though they
were Psalms which the pen could not express."
And before all these poets, there was Imru' al-Qais,
who likened the ruins of a house to the book of Psalms,
"To whom belongs a ruin, which grieves me like the script
in the Psalms of 'Asib Yamani."
And he also said, referring especially to the Psalms of
the monks,
"Come, let us weep because of the memory of a much loved
friend, and for the signs of traces long since erased.
"Years have passed by, and they have become like the writing
of the Psalms in the manuscripts of the monks."
CHRISTIANS AND ARABIC WRITING 183
Ummaya ibn As-Salt boasted of his tribe because they
knew writing and said,
"My people are 'Ayyad, verily a great multitude, and if they
settle in a country, the cattle become few by their
generosity.
"A people possessing the whole land of 'Iraq and masters of
the Book and the pen."
We have already shown that the Bani ^Ayyad were
among the first to become Christians (Vol. i, p. 75), and
one of them Laqait Al-'Ayyadi sent a letter to his people
warning them of imminent danger from Kisra, which
begins :
"Greetings from Laqait to all in the peninsula who are of the
tribe of 'Ayyad."
In addition to all this, what dispels any doubt is the
fact that the two pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions which
are found today are by Christians.
The previous volume contains an engraving of the older
of these (p. 100-104). It was discovered in Zubad near
the Euphrates and goes back to the year 512 A. D., that is
one hundred and ten years before the Hijrah. It is in
three languages, Greek, Syriac and Arabic, and states that
the monument erected there is in memory of St. Sergius
the Martyr. In it there is a prayer addressed to God.*
The second inscription was found in Harran, and is writ-
ten in Greek and Arabic. It dates back to fifty-four years
before the Hijrah, or A. D. 568. It is stated therein that
it is a monument to St. John the Baptist, the first of it
reading as follows: ^^I, Shurahbal the son of Talmu,
built this monument in the year 4(^3''
We have also printed with this incription two others in
Arabic, one of which is in Nabatean letters. It was
found at Namara in Safa by the French Expedition of
R. Dussaud, and is from the tomb of one of the kings of
Hira, called Imru Al-Qais ibn ^Amr, who died the 7th
of Kaslul of the 223d year of Busra, or the 7th of De-
cember 328 A. D. The other document is a copy of the
*tSee R. Dussaud's Expedition to the Syrian Desert, p. 316-324, and Lidzbarksi's
Aramaic Documents, p. 484.]
i84 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Koran written on vellum dating from the third century
A. H.^ and belonging to our Oriental Library. All of this
evidence and proof has compelled the chief Orientalists
to assign the origin or at least the spread of Arabic writ-
ing to the Christians of Arabia.
S. de Sacy has shown that the Arabs of 'Iraq and
Mesopotamia borrowed the art of writing from the
Christians. (Journal Asiat. Ire Serie X, pp. 210-21 1.)
Ph. Berger, the archaeologist, affirms the same in his
Historic de TEcriture dans TAntiquite, 2d ed., p. 287.
J. Wellhausen, the noted Orientalist, gives similar testi-
mony in his "Reste Arabischen Heidentums" (p. 232).
Q. Rothstein (Die Dynastic d. Lahmiden in al-Hira,
p. 26) and I. Goldziher (Muhammedanische Studien I,
p. no) both substantiate the foregoing conclusions.
All of these testimonies are quite sufficient to establish
the fact that the credit for teaching the Mohammedans
writing is due to the Christian Arabs, although we do
not deny that the Jews, especially in Medina, had a share
as Al-Baladhuri had shown. It is said that some of the
Arabs of Pre-Islamic times wrote in Hebrew, or rather
Aramaic or Syriac. There is the statement, for example,
of the author of Al-Aghani (3: 13) that Waraqa ibn
Naufal wrote in Hebrew characters from the Gospel
whatever he chose.
This same tradition is found in the opening chapter of
Al-Bukhari.
E. E. Elder.
Cairo, Egypt,
SEEN FROM A STAMBOUL DAY SCHOOL
Neither the Sunday saunterers nor the playing children
in the streets below pay any attention to the call to prayer
from the mosque in Stamboul. Few keep the required
five times of worship now, and the educated agree quite
frankly with a friend of ours, who says he does not be-
lieve in religion. ^'I am neither Moslem nor Christian,
but of course when a situation like this arises, when all
Christendom is arrayed against Islam, I am a Moslem,
and a strong one," he told me when the Turkish treaty
was published last summer.
There is, however, a certain openness of mind, and' an
evident desire for help, from whatever source it may
come. Dr. Sherwood Eddy's meetings were crowded,
and there were many requests that he speak in higher
Turkish schools, and at other times in the University, and
in a theatre here in the Turkish section of the city. We
were all sorry he could not stay here among the Moslems
long enough to more than prepare the ground for later
sowings. Near us the Stamboul Branch of the Y. M.
C. A. was opened on Friday, with inspection of the
building, a pleasant tea, and speeches from the chairman
and the national secretary of the Y. M. C. A., the head of
the Turkish Normal School for men, the director-general
of the Turkish orphanages in the city, and the head of
the Protestant Chancery. Finally Mr. Goodsell of our
mission, who is at present in charge of this Y. M. C. A.
work for Turks, declared the building open. The rooms
were jammed with guests, mostly Turks, a few foreigners
like ourselves, and a sprinkling of leading Protestants
who are big enough to rejoice in this new opportunity of
serving young men, especially those of the ruling race
from which they have suffered so much. Now we will
185
1 86 THE MOSLEM WORLD
sec how the young men come to make use of the clubs and
classes, lectures and meetings, books and good fellowship.
Before long we expect to open in a distinctly Moslem
section, only ten minutes away, a similar house for girls
under the Y. W. C. A. The head of one of the two
principal schools in Stamboul which receive girls is one
of our most ardent Stamboul Branch Committee mem-
bers, and the English teacher in the other school and its
principal are also very cordial to us.
Here in school we see the same willingness to take what
we have to give, as far as they understand it. Since the
end of August we have refused i88 children, quite half
of whom are Turks, because we had no room for them
and some of our 270 are packed in their rooms almost
like sardines in a box. Yesterday a man suggested that
his niece and nephew might stand if there were no chairs
for them, or he would send two for them to use. Any
proper public health official would agree with me that
we already have more chairs in some rooms than is good
for the pupils. I was rather glad the other day when the
head of the public health of the city came to put his four-
year-old daughter in school, that it was a Saturday and
there were no children to crowd the rooms. And I was
glad too to have a new excuse to give him for refusing to
receive her — we do not take children under five.
It is rather heartbreaking to refuse all these children.
Some are refugees from the interior. Just yesterday a
thirteen year old boy came. He had been a pupil at
Marsovan, and had a letter from Doctor White, president
of Anatolia College. His people had been driven out,
and brought him too. Now the way is closed for him to
go back to school. But he does not know enough English
to go in one of our two highest classes where there is room.
He cannot get into the Greek school. I was thankful to
send him to the central Y. M. C. A., for they have a school
for just such boys. But there is no such hope for the two
children for whom chairs were offered yesterday. The
SEEN FROM A STAMBOUL DAY SCHOOL 187
Turkish schools are many of them closing now for lack
of funds, so these children were put out of their own
school, and besides their two uncles say that they want
their wards to have the kind of training two cousins are
receiving here. I could only suggest that they get a
private teacher for the rest of the year, and register early
next autumn. But many cannot do that, and their chil-
dren remain ^^in the street," as the expression is.
It is estimated that there are in the city 100,000 Turks
of school age, and by their own government figures, which
are sure to make the situation look better than it is,
25,000 are registered in school. Since these figures were
published, several of their schools have been closed. A
larger proportion of Armenian and Greek children are
in school, if we do not count the recently arrived refugees.
A couple of weeks ago the basement room of the church
building, which was begun across the street from us
before the war, was completed and dedicated by the
Gedik Pasha Armenian Evangelical Church. The pastor,
our neighbor, came in a few days ago to talk over with us
plans of cooperation. The Armenian Christian Endeavor
Society is to meet there on Sunday, and three of the older
Armenian classes of the Sunday school. They will add
also an adult Bible class in addition to Mr. Stamboulian's
in Turkish, where several races come together. That will
relieve greatly the congestion with us. We have two or
three available teachers and we hope to get one or two
additional classes started, from among those who have
not been coming much yet.
Of course this Sunday-school attendance is ail volun-
tary, in addition to the required curriculum Bible three
times a week. We use the Pilgrim Graded lessons, which
seem to fit our needs very well. Perhaps my favorite
class is Senior Bible, using the life of Jesus for our teach-
ing material. The greater part of the older children are
day pupils also, but our two Primary and Beginners' De-
partments are made up largely of children who do not
1 88 THE MOSLEM WORLD
come to day school. I hope we can keep an increasing
number of these in the upper classes as time goes on, and
get a larger number of our little day school children to
come to Sunday school.
Except for the required Bible lesson and comparatively
easy discipline, our school is very like one of similar
grade at home. We have more language in our curric-
ulum, for though English is the language of the school
every child studies his vernacular a period a day, and
French is elective above the fourth grade for those who
are doing passing work in the required subjects. But the
other things are the same old things a child of the same
grade studies in an American school. And I was very
much interested to have one of the Y. M. C. A. secre-
taries tell me today that our boys were far more like
American boys than any other group he had seen out
here. I suppose there is a certain atmosphere that they
take in unconsciously, for it is very far from our thought
to do anything like denationalizing them.
And we have the same mixture of boys and girls, rich
and poor that you do. Among the twenty-six children of
our second grade is the daughter of a drunken father and
a woman who sometimes sells things on the street and who
sometimes goes out washing, the son of our Protestant
clergyman neighbor who received his training at Edin-
burgh University, the son of the mayor of Stamboul, and
the son of an official of the court of the ex-Shah of Persia.
In another grade is the son of the ex-Shah, who is also
brother of the present ruler of Persia, the son of a wealthy
cigarette manufacturer, the daughter of a teacher in our
school who lost her property and her husband during the
deportations, the son of a poor basket-maker who can pay
only a tenth of the regular tuition of $40 a year, besides
the children of various self-supporting widows and small
merchants.
We find that brains do not go with money any more
surely here than elsewhere. One day last August two new
SEEN FROM A STAMBOUL DAY SCHOOL 189
Greek pupils were registered. One was the 12 year old
son of a wealthy cigarette manufacturer, the other the
10 year old boy of a widow who is earning her living by
continuing her husband's little cheese shop. Both boys
were put in the class of those who did not know English.
Now the younger one is sent with honor to the fourth
grade, and the older rich one can scarcely make the third
grade. He will probably leave next year for the Pre-
paratory Department of Robert College, so we will do
the best we can for him until that time.
I've just been reading with great satisfaction Margaret
Sherwood's "A World to Mend." Out here, even more
than with you, the world seems to need a thorough re-
pairing, like the shoes Miss Sherwood mentions, in which
the original substance largely disappeared under the re-
pairs. More and more deeply we are all learning — you
and I — that the new world is not going to be built up on
new laws or new governments, but on new men and
women, made after the pattern of Christ. What greater
privilege than ours who are called to help Him prepare
the foundation stones of the new and glorious city of God?
Ethel Putney.
Gedik Pasha, Constantinople.
A MONTHLY PRAYER-CYCLE
^'Father the hour is come. Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son also fnay
Glorify Thee''
First Day. For Moslem Rulers in their own lands, and for all
officials serving under them.
For European Rulers in Moslem lands, that in their desire for tol-
eration towards Mohammedans they may not be faithless to Christ,
Whose Name they bear.
For all native Christians in Moslem lands.
Second Day. For the people of Arabia, the cradle of Islam, that
the Gospel may be carried to them all, and that many may receive it.
For a blessing on all missionaries working there, and on all copies
of the Scriptures and books circulated amongst the people.
Third Day. For the Moslems in Palestine, that in the breaking
down of barriers between them and the Christians through their fear
of the Jews, many may learn to believe in Christ. May homes be pro-
vided for them elsewhere, through wider cultivation of the ground.
Fourth Day. For the Moslems in Syria. For all missionaries work-
ing here, and all educational work. For orphanages and medical mis-
sions, both here and in Palestine.
Fifth Day. For the Moslems in Asia Minor. That the Mission
Schools may still continue, and there may be freedom to learn of
Christ. May secret believers be encouraged to confess Him.
Sixth Day. For the Turks; that many w^ho are enquiring today
may be gathered in, and become strong to bear fearless testimony to
the Lord Jesus. May the thraldom of Islam pass away, and men and
women be set free forever.
Seventh Day. For the Moslems in Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Rou-
mania and Macedonia. That more workers may give themselves to
make known Christ to these people, and that many may be won to Him.
Eighth Day. For the Moslems in Mesopotamia. That Mission
work may be allowed to continue; and that there may be religious
liberty there. May Christ be made known to the people.
Ninth Day. For the Moslems in Russia. May it be made possible
to carry the Gospel to them, and may messengers be raised up to give
themselves to this work.
Tenth Day. For the Moslems of Persia. That a blessing may be
given them. May the missionaries working there win many to Christ.
For the Nestorians, that they may be taught the true way, and live
Christian lives.
Eleventh Day. For the Kurdish tribes; the Circassians and all
dwellers in the border lands of what has been the Turkish Empire.
That the few who are working among them may be greatly blessed, and
win the love of these wild people.
Twelfth Day. For the people of Afghanistan. That their desire
for education may lead them to ask missionaries to come to them.
That the door which is beginning to open may find Christian workers
ready to enter, and may the Afghans receive Christ.
190
A MONTHLY PRAYER-CYCLE lai
Thirteenth Day. For the people of Beloochistan, and all the
border tribes of Northern India that light may be given to them. For
a blessing on the few missionaries who are working in these regions.
May more missionaries give themselves to this work.
Fourteenth Day. For the Moslems of India. That the Holy
Spirit may bring peace here, and that Christians may be guided in
words and deeds through this time of unrest. That all secret believers
may be given courage to confess Christ, and many Moslems be brought
into the fold.
Fifteenth Day. For the Moslems in Ceylon and the smaller
islands. Also for those scattered about the world, in England, the
United States, South America, and elsewhere, that they may be brought
into touch with Christians and learn of Christ.
Sixteenth Day. For the Moslems of China. That the Holy Spirit
may work amongst them, and give light to those that sit in darkness
and the shadow of death. May He guide their feet into the way of
Peace.
'Seventeenth Day. For the Moslems of Egypt, with thanksgiving
for those who have been won to Christ. For a blessing on every
missionary, and school and hospital, that they may have life more
abundant. That whatever political changes are made, there may be
freedom for Moslems to hear of Christ, and to confess Him as Lord.
Eighteenth Day. For the Moslems in the Soudan, that there may
be liberty of faith and conscience. That the Gordon College may be
changed from a Moslem school to one where Christ is honoured. May
this prayer be answered quickly.
For a blessing on all Mission work in the^whole Nile Valley, from
the Mediterranean to Victoria Nyanza.
Nineteenth Day. For the Moslems of Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers,
and all the tribes in the hinterland. That the Holy Spirit may be with
the workers, and use them to win many to Christ.
Twentieth Day. For the Moslems of Morocco, and the West
Coast of Africa. That a blessing may be given after many years of
toil.
For all missionaries working here, and for converts, that the power
of God may overcome the power of evil.
For Sierra Leone, and the Native Christian Churches, that they
may withstand the tide of Mohammedanism.
Twenty-first Day. For the Moslems of Nigeria, and the in-
terior. That British Rule may not be used to strengthen Islam. May
Christian Churches be protected by God, and a strong spirit of evan-
gelization among the Moslems be given to them.
For a blessing on all the missionaries.
Twenty-second Day. For the Moslems in Central and South
Africa, and for those on the East Coast, that the Holy Spirit will
convince them of their need of Christ. May Christian natives live
holy lives, and win the Moslems to believe in their religion. For a
blessing on all missionaries in these regions.
Twenty-third Day. For the Moslems of Malaysia. That the
Churches of converted Moslems may be kept faithful, and may con-
tinually increase in numbers. For a blessing on all who are working
193 THE MOSLEM WORLD
amongst them, and on the Dutch Government, which encourages nuV
sion work for Moslems.
Twenty-fourth Day. For the continual spread of the Word of
God among Moslems everywhere. That the Holy Spirit may enable
many men and women to write books and papers to teach people about
the Lord Jesus. For all who read in every class of life. For the
Beyrout Mission Press, the Nile Mission Press, and all Colportage
work throughout the Moslem world. For all Christian literary work,
that it may be a powerful instrument for Christ. All missionary
magazines : the writers and the readers.
Twenty-fifth Day. For all Mission Colleges and Schools in Mos-
lem lands: the Masters, Mistresses and Teachers; and all students
and children, both boys and girls. That renewed blessing may be
given to all educational work in every part of the Moslem world.
That the whole Word of God may be taught with convincing power
by those who are themselves convinced. For all Moslem Students in
Christian lands.
Twenty-sixth Day. For all Mission Hospitals, Doctors and
Nurses throughout the Moslem world. For all in-patients and out-
patients, that many may be won to Christ.
Twenty-seventh Day. That many more men and women may
give themselves to work among Moslems. For all Training Schools.
For the Cairo Study Centre and the Constantinople Language School.
For help in learning Arabic during the years of preparation.
For the teaching of the Holy Spirit to enable them to make clear
to the Moslems how they may become Christians.
Twenty-eighth Day. For all Moslem women and children
throughout the world. That they may be set free from superstition
and be led to believe in the Lord Jesus. May converted Moslem
women give their lives to help their sisters, and may little children lead
their parents to Christ.
Twenty-ninth Day. For all Orphanages throughout the Moslem
world. That there may be more of these established, and that the
children may be taught the Bible, and learn to believe in the Lord
Jesus.
Thirtieth Day. For all missionary plans for advance, that we may
be guided by God and make no mistakes.
For the next Moslem Conference, and for Conferences held by
native Christians.
For all our Leaders, Committees, Secretaries, at home and in the
field.
For "The Missions to Moslems League," "The Moslem World
Quarterly" and its Editors, and for "The Fellowship of Faith for
Moslems."
For all who undertake deputation work, that their words may be in
the power of God.
Thirty-first Day. That all needed supplies may be sent in to
carry on the work. That anxiety may be removed through faith in
our Heavenly Father, and that we may not hinder His loving care for
us through any false step, or wandering from the Word of Life.
Cuffnelhj Weybridge, — Annib Van Sommer.
CURRENT TOPICS
Port Said a Cosmopolitan City
We learn from the popular report of the British and Foreign Bible
Society for last year that Port Said has a population of over 90,000,
and is perhaps the most cosmopolitan seaport in the world. From the
ships and the housetops flags of all nations are flying, in the shops all
languages are spoken, and coins circulate from all manner of mints.
One collection taken in the local church at Port Said included an
English penny, an Australian sixpence, an Italian soldoj a French franc,
an Indian quarter-rw/>ee piece, a Turkish 4.0-paraSj a Greek lO-Iepta,
a Belgian ha\i-franc, a Tunisian lOcentimeSj a Dutch q\x?iXX.tx- guilder,
a g-piastre piece from Cyprus, an American dime, a 20-cent piece from
Ceylon, with copper coins from China and Brazil.
The Bible House at this strategic centre is the headquarters of the
Society's Egyptian agency. It stocks editions of the Scriptures in no
fewer than eighty languages. Sales from the depot on one day of 1920
included books in Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Jap-
anese, Latin, Polish, Russian, and Spanish. From this base over 100,000
books were sent out last year into Egypt, the Sudan, Abyssinia, Arabia,
Palestine, Syria, and Cyprus.
The Work of a Colporteur
A colporteur of the Bible Society reports: "A Moor stopped me in
the streets of Casablanca and asked if I were from Andaluzia; and on
hearing that I came from that part of Spain, he said, *I am going to buy
a portion of these sacred writings from you because you are an Andaluz
and the same blood runs in our veins; my forefathers came from your
country.* He bought a Gospel. It was news to him, however, that
the same Blood which washed me from my sins could wash him from
his: He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for*
the sins of the whole world.''
In the butchers' quarters at Fez a shopkeeper took a Gospel in his
hand, and holding it up called out in a loud voice, "Who will buy a
Gospel? It only costs a girsch (^2d.)," and in this way he sold quite
a number of copies. When Padilla had finished, the butcher said, 'This
one I will keep in payment for the help I have given you.'
Armenian Legacies
The late Mr. Hovannes Boyadjian of New York has left as a legacy
to the American Board his entire estate, whose value is not yet ascer-
tained, to be used for educational, religious and benevolent purposes in
his native town of Diarbekir, and in Harpout and Mardin. Out of the
income of the estate, $8,000 annually is to be given to his wife, Eveline
Dondjian, during her lifetime; and after her decease the sum is to be
used wnth the rest for the above purposes. Three thousand dollars each
has been left also to his two sisters, Mrs. Mariam Handanjian and Mrs.
193
194 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Proon Boyadjian. His wife, with Messrs. Garabed Pushman, Hagop
Bczazin and Hovhannes Boyadjian and the Guaranty Trust Company
of New York, have been appointed executors of the estate.
Another Armenian, at Alexandria, Egypt, has given the sum of
nearly one million dollars for education to the American Board to be
used in Asia Minor; the entire sum is to be administered by American
missionaries for thirty years, after which the schools are to revert to
the Armenian Church.
An Air Survey of Arabia
Until a month ago the Arabian Desert has been regarded as a bar
to direct communication between the Mediterranean and the Persian
Gulf, says the Times aeronautical correspondent. Aeroplanes, instead
of crossing it, flew on a semi-circular course round its northern extremi-
ties, and so covered many more miles than actually separated the aero-
dromes on its eastern and western sides. This was a process which
militated against the performance of the first function of aircraft: it
wasted time. The completion of the new Cairo-Bagdad link (the Am-
man-Ramadie route) straightens out the air-way and brings the Persian
Gulf many hours nearer to the Mediterranean. The length of the new
route is 580 miles, and the line it follows passes through Amman in
Transjordania and Kasrel Azrak, where there are now landing grounds,
and then in an almost straight line crosses the Arabian desert to
Ramadie on the Euphrates and leads thence to Baghdad.
The Royal Air Force have carried out the survey. They had the
cooperation of the Emir Abdulla in establishing at Amman an advanced
base forty-five miles east of Jerusalem.
The ultimate importance to Egypt of the new air route can hardly
be exaggerated. It means that between sunrise and sunset the entire
journey between Baghdad and Cairo can be accomplished. Egypt has
long been recognized as the natural centre of world air routes, and
the development of the aerial service between it and the mouth of the
Euphrates points the way to the creation, which surely cannot long be
delayed, of an aerial highway to India.
Dante's Debt to Mohammedan Eschatology
In Theology for June, 1921, Professor A. Guillaume gives a sum-
mary of a work by Dr. M. Asin Palacios on "Mohammedan Escha-
tology in the Divine Comedy." The Spanish writer notes first that, six
hundred years before the death of Dante, Islam possessed a religious
legend which told of the journey of Mohammed to the other worlds of
heaven and hell. These legends are a development of the first verse
of Surah n 7 of the Koran, which reads :
"Glory be to him who carried his servant by night from the sacred temple
[of Mecca] to the temple that is more remote [t. e., of Jerusalem], whose
precinct we have blessed, that we might show him of our signs."
Out of this developed an extended literature which treated the legend
allegorically or mystically, and elevated the myth into an article of faith.
Comparison of the various forms or editions of this legend with the
Divine Comedy shows an agreement in the general plan and a multitude
of points of resemblance in details, in some cases amounting to identity.
Hell: In general it is to be remarked that as Mohammed is guided
by Gabriel, so Dante had Vergil as his conductor. The approach to the
CURRENT TOPICS 195
infernal regions is practically the same in both cases. It is through what
may be described as an inverted funnel, narrow at the top and widening
at the bottom. A difFerence appears here in the divisions of the two
hells. While the Moslem has seven divisions, the Dantesque has nine,
and in each the grade or degree of guilt increases in proportion to the
depth. The architectural conception and the moral structure of the two
hells agree quite closely, and details are sometimes curiously alike. For
example: imps attempt to assail Mohammed, and Gabriel quells their
fury; demons make assault upon Dante, whom Vergil defends. Simi-
larly, the Moslem account has a lake of fire with fiery cities of tombs on
the shore, and Dante describes the city of Dis, which seems to be a vast
cemetery in a sea of flames.
Purgatory: The allegorical structure of this part of Dante's poem
seems to owe much to the rich allegorical field of the Mohammedan
story. For example, at the outset of his journey Mohammed is assailed
by a woman, who hides the ravages of age beneath splendid garments.
Dante, too, sees a woman devoid of all charm, yet seeking to allure him
with art and sweet addresses. In each case the guide interprets the
incident, Gabriel calling the woman a symbol of the world, and Vergil
interpreting the incident as the eternal charmer. Commentators all see
in this an allegory of the happiness of the world. In the Moslem
legend sinning but penitent souls undergo three ablutions. They cleanse
physically and morally, restore natural color to the face, and clear of
the stain of sin. In the Purgatorio Dante himself is purified three
times before he can enter the heavenly mansions.
Paradise: It is quite natural that in the Dante development the
guide to the celestial regions is changed. Mohammed goes to heaven
led by Gabriel; Dante is led by Beatrice in the form of an almost
angelic being. Dante represents celestial life as a feast of light and
sound, and these are two of the pictorial elements in the Moslem vision
of paradise. Mohammed hears angels singing hymns of praise, some-
times based on the Koran, while Dante's spirits sing songs of praise
taken from the Bible. It is a little curious perhaps that both Dante and
Mohammed describe the swiftness of their flight by the same figures,
those of the wind and the arrow. At the various stages of heaven both
Dante and Mohammed receive revelations on the nature of the hier-
archies and ministries of the angelic order, as well as the solution of
theological and philosophical problems, varied of course in accordance
with the difference in the two systems. In the supreme heaven Dante
sees God as a point of intense light surrounded by nine concentric circles
of angels, who wheel ceaselessly around this throne. Similarly in the
Mohammedan legend files or rows of angels move round the divine
throne, of which God is a focus of light indescribable. Each file of
angels corresponds to a separate hierarchy.
Special Visions of the Mohammedan Legend: While it can be
shown that in many respects Dante's picture corresponds with the legend
as developed at large. Dr. Asin Palacios indicates that Dante seems to
have leaned very closely upon two or three formulations of it. One of
these is that of Abu'l-'Ala-al-Ma'ari, a Syrian w^hose writings appeared
early in the eleventh century. A number of incidents appear to be
peculiar to this writer and to Dante. Another writer who seems es-
pecially close to the Italian is the Spanish Arab Ibn al-*Arabi, who died
196 THE MOSLEM WORLD
twenty-five years before Dante's birth. It is noteworthy that Ibn al-
'Arabi left drawings of the other world on a circular or spherical plan
which corresponds with some minuteness to the plan which modern
commentators draw as representing the Dantesque geography and rela-
tivity in the regions visited.
Professor Guillaume notes that the theory of the Spanish writer has
not been accepted by Dante students, either English or Italian. On
the other hand it seems that no refutation of the arguments has yet
been brought to light. The Arabic authorities quoted by the Spaniard
are exceedingly voluminous, and it would take considerable time to
verify the sources. The closing remark of Professor Guillaume is ex-
ceedingly interesting. It is to the effect that if the thesis stands: 'Islam,
which has borrowed so much from Jewish and Christian theology and
eschatology, has gone far to repay that debt by giving to the divine
poet the outline of his work, which, whatever the merits of its Moham-
medan precursors, stands unique in its dignity, beauty and spirituality."
The Universal Mission of Jesus
What A Moslem Thinks
The following letter appeared in the magazine. The Epiphany, and
shows the line of argument still taken by Moslems, and their unscrup-
ulous use of Scripture:
The Missions of Jesus Christ and of Mohammed. Christians often
say that a new idea was born into the world at the outset of Christi-
anity, that the Deity was the "Universal Father." But for such asser-
tion we would in vain search into the New Testament, the best reli-
gious book of the Christians. On the contrary, according to various
writers we find that the Mission of Jesus was purely a local one, that
he sends his disciples and commands them thus, "Go not into the way of
the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But
go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel" ; again Jesus — said
to the woman of Samaria, "Ye worship ye know not what; we know
that we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." In St. Matthew,
chapter xv. he again says, "I am sent not but unto the lost sheep of the
House of Israel." From this it is clear that there was nothing new in
the Mission of Jesus. We do not know upon what authority the
Christians base their claim that the Mission of Jesus was to any other
race but the Jews.
To Jesus the Christians ascribe the title "The Prince of Peace."
But what we read in St. Matthew, chapter x, v. 34, is just to the con-
trary, "Think you," says there Jesus^ "that I am come to send peace
on earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword."
From the above, if we rely upon the Bible, the conclusions must be as
follows :
(a) His Mission was that of a teacher sent to the Jews alone.
(b) His disciples were even forbidden to enter the cities of the
Samaritans who worshipped God as Jews did, but differed in certain
details, thus showing that Jesus was an orthodox Jew by faith.
(c) He realized that, far from uniting even the Jews, He would
bring only bloodshed upon earth.
Let us now look at the Great Prophet Mohammed and see what
he says about his own Mission. He says, "I am sent not but as a bless-
CURRENT TOPICS 197
ing to mankind." — What a loftier Mission it is than that of Christ —
who says openly, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of — the House
of Israel"! Here in Mohammed, we find the new idea, ''here is the
conception of a Universal Deity, of a Creator Who cares for all man-
kind, who sends a Teacher to the World, instead of a small nation, and
we must realize that, whilst we fail to find in the Bible that the Mission
of Jesus had anything to do with the world at large, yet the message
delivered by the Prophet of Arabia is for us, was revealed by 'Allah'
for all men at a time when narrowness of vision prevailed, when men
were still living in ignorance of the reality of the mercy of 'Allah/
Yours faithfully,
Abdul Hakim.
"Mecca" or "Cairo"
The British authorities are always anxious to avoid wounding the
susceptibilities of Moslems, especially those who reside in Great Britain.
When Mr. Oscar Ash proposed to produce at His Majesty's Theatre
the spectacular play "Mecca," he received an intimation from the Lord
Chamberlain that the play could not pass unless the title were altered.
The London press informs us that the use of such a title would have
wounded the susceptibilities of the Mohammedan community.
According to one report, Mr. Morris Gest, who produced "Mecca"
in the United States, where it achieved a very big success, stated that
he was utterly unable to understand the attitude which the Lord Cham-
berlain had adopted. The title had been used throughout the whole of
the American run. The play had been seen by many Mohammedans,
and he had never heard the slightest protest from any of them. He
emphasised the fact that throughout the play the subject was treated
with the utmost respect. The hero of "Mecca" is a wonderful wrestler
who is condemned by the Sultan to remain an outcast from his country
until he has expiated his sins by penance at Mecca. Mr. Gest added that
it was difficult to understand why the title "Mecca" should be objected
to when "The Sign of the Cross" and "Joseph and His Brethren" had
already been used as titles.
We understand that the play, whatever its merit, is now running at
one of the leading theatres, and is entitled "Cairo." Still more signifi-
cant is the fact that some of those connected with its production have
been trying to secure entrance into the Hedjaz for cinema purposes, but
with little success.
A Moslem Appeal for Funds
The following appeal was published by the Islamic Information
Bureau and illustrates the new e£Eort of Moslem propagandism through
the press. Our readers will find some of the books referred to intro-
duced among the Reviews.
"It is a crisis in the history of the world. Europe has almost suc-
ceeded in asserting her military domination over other continents. It
is also trying to dominate morally and intellectually. Struggling, weak
nations need mutual support. Their cause must be strengthened.
Propaganda against them must be counteracted. Muslim Standard and
Echo de U I slam, 24, rue Tait Bout, Paris, have been instituted to
help the cause of the suffering peoples at the same time that they defend
the honor of Islam. Our enemies are spending colossal sums on their
198 THE MOSLEM WORLD
propaganda and they have besides the whole of the European Press free
at their disposal. We can only counteract their propaganda if these
papers are supplied, week by week, with correct information from all
parts of the world, either by cables or letters duly authenticated and
signed. Signatures will be kept confidential if desired. Early correct
news will be welcome, which please communicate to the Editor, Muslim
Standard, 25, Eburj^ Street, London, S. W. i.
From Moslems we appeal for funds. Nothing can be done without
funds. We want money from Moslems to enable us to enlarge our free
circulation among non-Moslems. The honor of Islam must be de-
fended not only on the battlefield but also against a most sinister and
bitter propaganda in the WEST.
All contributions should be sent to: —
Nazimuttujjar Haji M. H. Ispahani,
21, Mincing Lane, London, E.C.3.
And in India to Mr. Said-ur-Rahman Kidwai, Farangi Mahal, Luck-
now, Oudh, India."
Java and Madura
According to the last census completed in November, 1920, the total
population of Java and Madura is 35,017,204, the outlying provinces
including Sumatra, and excluding New Guinea have a population of
14,143,845.
The Moslems at present are alarmed at the progress of Christianity,
and are taking measures to strengthen their propagandism. They are
publishing new journals in Malay and Javanese. There is an intel-
lectual revival accompanied by the usual unrest.
A correspondent writes that four words which a few years ago were
totally unknown to the vocabulary of the people now appear in every
daily and in common conversation, namely: Democracy, Communism,
Bolshevism, Labor strikes.
A Sermon on Sacrifice
(Given at the Moslem Festival in London.)
The following are extracts from a sermon delivered at the Annual
Moslem Festival held on the 14th August in London. After the cus-
tomary prayers in the open air, Maulvi Mubarik Ali, B.A., spoke in
English :
Ladies and Gentlemen —
"We are celebrating today in this father-land of free nations the
greatest of the Islamic festivals, Idul-azha, It is on this occasion that
the great pilgrimage to Mecca is performed. Moslems from the four
corners of the world assemble in the Holy City of Mecca as brethren,
each clothed in a simple, white robe, and bow dow^n their heads in the
service of their Great Maker and the festivity being similarly celebrated
in other parts of the Islamic world at the same time, manifests the
fundamental unity of the brotherhood of Islam — a brotherhood which
wipes out all distinctions of rank, race and colour, and is not to be
found in other religions of the world. This festival has a touching
history well-known to the followers of the three great Semitic religions,
i. e., Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Briefly stated the Moslem ver-
sion is this: Abraham, the father of the prophets, saw in a vision that
CURRENT TOPICS 199
under the command of his Lord he was to sacrifice his son Ishmacl. He
told Ishmael this dream and asked him what he thought of it. Ishmael
who was ever ready to give everything for the sake of God, replied,
'Father, do what you are commanded to do, and you will find me
obedient.' This dream was fulfilled and the sacrifice of Ishmael ac-
complished when Abraham left his wife Hagar and her son Ishmael in
a solitary, dr}^, and sultry piece of land between the two hills of Safa
and Marwa near which stands to-day the Holy City of Mecca. The
story runs that when the little provisions and water left with them by
Abraham were exhausted, Ishmael, the little child, began to cry for
water. His mother ran first to the one hill and then to the other for
water but found no trace of it. It is said that she ran seven times
between the two hills. When she at last returned to the child in de-
spair, she found him stamping on the ground with his little feet, and a
spring of clear water gushing forth from underneath them. Tradition
thus declares the origin of the famous well of Zemzem near the Kaaboj
the Holy Temple of Mecca. In course of time this solitary place be-
came a pilgrimage of the children of Ishmael, a center of trade and a
flourishing city."
Interpreting this Moslem legend the speaker distinguished between
sacrifice in the Jewish faith, among Christians and according to Islam
as follows:
"The Islamic idea of sacrifice, i. e., the sacrifice of the lower for the
higher, is a grand truth implanted in the nature of man, and we find it
illustrated in every day life, and in every sphere of human activity. So
this sacrifice can be easily distinguished from other kinds of sacrifice to
appease an offended deity or to make an atonement for sins. A deity
which is offended without a just cause and demands a sacrifice to grant
immunity from punishment is not worthy of adoration; and as regards
the doctrine of atonement even if we grant that this doctrine could avail
humanity anything it would be more in keeping with natural experi-
ence that the lower should be sacrificed for the higher, and not the
higher for the lower as is taught in some other religious systems. Thus
the Islamic idea of sacrifice is quite natural and consciously or un-
consciously individuals and nations recognize it.
"I have already said that the principle of sacrifice is the central idea in
Islam. Prophet Mohammed, peace and blessings of God be upon him,
not only preached it but practiced it throughout his life, and fired his
followers with it. The early Moslems were embodiments of this spirit,
and so they became 'a nation of heroes' as an English writer justly says.
Here I have used the word 'hero' in the highest sense of the word,
because they were such heroes that they became the foremost people in
the world in such a short space of time as has no parallel in the history
of the world, and remained the foremost people for hundreds of years
as long as they were true to this principle. They fell from their high
pedestal not because they followed Islam but because they neglected it."
The rest of the sermon dealt with reasons for the present decline of
Islam. The only hope is the Ahmadiyah sect.
The closing sentences of the sermon show to what length of com-
promise the New Islam goes in its efforts at propagandism :
"What is wanted is divine rain from heaven — i. e., new revelation,
in order that the dryness of heart may be removed by the fresh water of
200 THE MOSLEM WORLD
faith. In different ages God sent Abraham, Jesus, Krishna and Bud-
dha for the regeneration of faith. The religious idea found expression
through them and in a latter age found its highest expression through
Mohammed (peace be on him). The modern world is dying for a
saviour, but a saviour has come v^ho has confirmed the truth of Islam
and the truth of all the prophets of all the nations. The seed of Islam
resovrn by him has already grown into a tree, has spread over the land
of Hindustan and has sent out branches to other parts of the world.
This mission is one of its branches. Will England sacrifice her pride
and prejudice, see and understand, and rise to the height of the occasion?
Her children in an earlier age made great sacrifice for truth. Will they
be wanting now?"
The Moslems of Canton
The Rev. C. A. Gimblett gives us in the Foreign Field some interest-
ing facts regarding the Mohammedans of Canton. He says, "Let us
take the Mohammedans of Canton as a sample of the whole. What a
strange picture they make! Here in the biggest heathen city of the
world one finds a handful of the followers of the Prophet. Like the
Moslems of other provinces, they manage to retain many distinctive
features of their religion, though closer acquaintance seems to show that
they are neither good Chinese nor orthodox Moslems. They have their
own services, Arabic being extensively used; and they nominally study
the Koran, though few understand Arabic, except a few common terms
and words of greeting. Also they have a number of text-books (Cate-
chisms, etc.) printed in Chinese and Arabic, for their own people and
schools.
"Generally speaking, they understand little of their religion. Indeed,
their own Mullahs have confessed to us: 'Our people are not good
Moslems; we have little authority with them; it is so different with
you!' Perhaps it could hardly be otherwise when one thinks of the
marvellous power of absorption shown by the swarming millions all
around them. True, the Chinese Moslem nominally eschews pork and
idol-worship, but in practice there seems to be much laxity. For in-
stance, it is said that many of them will eat pork if they remember to
call it 'mutton' first! Hence such popular Chinese gibes as this: 'One
Moslem travelling will grow fat: two on a journey will grow thin.'
This, at any rate, shows incidentally that John Chinaman has a sense
of humour.
"In many points, however, they are clearly distinguished from the mass
of their fellow-subjects. They have their own slaughterers, all meat
being carefully prepared by the A hongs in the proper Mohammedan
way. In many parts, too, one notices special Mohammedan shops
{kaau moon) marked by a special sign, a water-pot (signifying "clean"),
in some cases surmounted by a turban ("pig's head hat").
Their marriage and burial customs are also fairly distinct. For in-
stance, they always bring back the coffin after burial. Hence another
Chinese gibe: "Here come the stingy ones!" They also seem to have
some distinguishing sanitary habits.
In public worship they have avoided, by some clever deceits, the pros-
tration before the Emperor's tablet formerly required by law.
CURRENT TOPICS 201
Shaukat Ali as Indian Leader
Writing in the Nation concerning the present Indian unrest, Mr.
Josiah Wedgewood describes Gandhi as India's political saint, and in
speaking of his allies in the fight for democracy and against western
civilization, he goes on to say:
"The Saint's allies are not of his own sort. Shaukat Ali is his stable
companion, and Shaukat Ali, once a cricketer and now a fanatic, stands
seven feet high and five feet broad, in a great green cloak and a high,
white astrachan cap. Shaukat Ali is a likable, big, bluff, hearty man,
when you meet him ; but his ideas of the virtues of passive resistance are
hardly skin deep. He works up the Moslem "Ulemas" and "Peers," and
procures "fetwas," and gets the whole of religious fanaticism boiling.
He calls the mixed crowd "brothers," but the only brothers he recognizes
are brothers in the faith. The Sultan of Rampur (his native State)
has taken from him his family, his goods, and home. He has lost all
except his sixteenth-century faith. "Tell the Government that I am too
fat to run," he says to those who warn him of his imminent arrest.
A revision of the Sevres Treaty will hardly appease Shaukat Ali. For
him the British are kafirs for whom there is no place in India. And the
strength of the non-cooperation movement is among the Moslems. It
is the Moslem colleges that the students have deserted or captured. It
is the Moslem seats on the Council that find no electors or candidates.
It is the recalcitrant Moslems who feel the first and full weight of the
social boycott. The Hindoos, writhing under memories of Martial
Law, understand neither the man nor the cause, and are a little nervous
of the whirlwind; while Shaukat and his brother, Mohammed, would
even stop cow-killing to cement the alliance and remove the rule of those
who have trampled on the Khalifa and on the people of God.
The clay in the hands of these men is India."
Beirut University
By official action of the Board of Regents of the University of the
State of New York, the charter of the Syrian Protestant College at
Beirut has been amended, changing its name to The American Univer-
sity of Beirut, and also enlarging its educational powers to be both
college and university in character and scope.
This change has been under consideration for a long time. It was
recommended by President Bliss many years ago, but was held up on
account of the war. The former name has been outgrown, and is no
longer descriptive. The institution is not "Syrian," as it used to be.
This year 109 students are enrolled from Egypt, and many more would
have come from there but for lack of accommodations. Ninety-nine came
from Palestine; Asia Minor sent 21, and Mesopotamia 13. With more
than one-quarter of the student body from other places, the name should
be enlarged. Nor is it a "Protestant" institution in any narrow or ex-
clusive sense. The religion that is inculcated there is avowedly and truly
Christian, but not denominational. And the number of Protestants in
attendance is less than one-ninth of the total. Nor is the institution
merely a "College" any longer. Its post-graduate departments have
grown in variety and attendance, till it has for some time been really a
University in all essentials. Its schools of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry
and nursing have this year had added to them a school of engineering,
202 THE MOSLEM WORLD
which, while it does not duplicate the work done at Robert College,
gives Beirut an added claim to the title of University.
The certificate of incorporation by which the Syrian Protestant Col-
lege first came before the official public was given in April of 1863, when
the College was granted a charter by the Board of Regents of the
University of the State of New York. The College opened its doors
in 1866, and the Medical School was opened the following year. In
1906, the charter was amended so as to give the College twelve trustees
in place of six.
Beirut University, as it will doubtless be called for convenience, is to
be congratulated on having a name commensurate with its growth and
activities; and we believe it is the harbinger of an era of still greater
usefulness and prosperity than has been its lot until now.
Hindus and the Khalifat
Pandit Madan Mohan Malivyia speaking at the Indian Congress
expressed his opinion, as follows, regarding the future of Islam polit-
ically :
So far as the Khalifat is concerned we used to hear that England
regarded Turkey as a great friend. English statesmen used often to
acknowledge the friendly services of Turkey in the past, and they were
anxious to protect Turkey as long as there was a danger of invasion
from Russia. Times changed, and policies changed, and then came the
Balkan War, and after it came the Great European War. By stress of
circumstances, into which it is unnecessary for me to enter, Turkey
joined the war against the Allies. The Allies triumphed and the Allies
have now to lay down the terms of the Turkish Treaty. If the Allies
had only remembered the promises that they had made during the prog-
ress of the war, if the Allies had only acted up to the pledges which
they had given to our Mussulman fellow subjects in India, who went to
fight against Turkey on behalf of England, this question of the Khalifat
would not have arisen today. But the question has been the creation
of England; it is not of our creation. We Hindus feel, apart from
any considerations of diplomacy, that the great fight which was fought
for righteousness has ended in an unrighteous attitude on the part of
England. We feel that instead of the victory proving the harbinger of
a new era of freedom for small and great nations it has served to be a
new instrument for enslaving other peoples on earth. That is the
reason of the sympathy which, I believe, the Hindus generally, the Par-
sees generally, the Indian Christians generally feel with our Moham-
medan fellow countrj^men. It is the unrighteousness of the attitude
adopted by England. We feel also that a great nation like the Mussul-
man nation, which has had a glorious past, ought not to be subjected to
the position to which they propose to reduce Turkey. For all these
reasons, knowing that millions of our Mohammedan countrymen and
countrywomen are sore at heart and feel deeply on this Turkish question,
we are face to face with this situation that the feelings of the Indian
Mussulmans have been outraged and they are undergoing mental pain,
and that that pain shall not end until some remedy has been found for
it. That is one situation that has arisen."
BOOK REVIEWS
The Crescent in North-west China. By G. Findlay Andrew, O. B. E. Pub-
lished by the China Inland Mission. Religious Tract Society, London,
pp. 123.
The writer in his Preface states that although the Moslems of China
probably more than equal in number their co-religionists of Egypt,
Persia, or Arabia, until a few years ago there was practically no liter-
ature upon the subject in the English language beyond a few scattered
articles in not easily accessible magazines. The student desirous of in-
formation upon this subject was compelled to resort to the French works
of M. Gabriel Deveria and M. de Thiersant, or to the less easily con-
sulted Russian writings of the Archimandrite Palladius and V. P.
VasiFev. More recently the d'Ollone Mission has still further placed
the student under obligation to French investigations by its published
observations.
"It w^as not until the World's Missionary Conference at Edinburgh,
in 1 9 10, that this long neglected problem began to receive from the
Christian Church the attention it deserved." Since the Edinburgh Con-
ference the China Continuation Committee has shared with the readers
of our Quarterly, its careful survey of the problem. The present
volume is a first-class contribution on the subject, although it covers
only one province. The author sketches the history of Islam in N. W.
China, its peculiar characteristics, practices, sects, and the relationships
of Moslems with their Chinese neighbours. It does not minimise the
difficulties. There are three million Moslems in Kansu, and not one
missionary giving his whole time to work amongst them. The number
of converts are very few, and here also there are backsliders and re-
actionary movements against Christianity.
The author knows his subject, and writes after personal contact with
prominent Moslem leaders. During the years of the War he did much
to prevent a Moslem uprising, and for this service to the cause of hu-
manity he was decorated at Buckingham Palace with the Order of the
British Empire. S. M. Z.
Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia. Printed and pub-
lished by H. M. Stationery Office, London, pp. 147. Price, two shillings
net.
The document is a report written at the request of the British Gov-
ernment and published as such. Hence, it is printed on sheets of fools-
cap, and bound into a pamphlet without a cover, but the style of the
waiter is better than that so often used in reports, and is interesting
reading to everyone who wishes to obtain first hand information with-
out the effort of wading through so much which is of value only to
officials concerned. The writer of the pamphlet was in Mesopotamia
for many months, and alw^ays on the staff of the Administration, and
was given every opportunity to use all the documents at hand, and her
previous experience with Arabs in parts of Arabia enabled her to have
a better understanding of conditions than would have been true of many
others connected with affairs.
203
204 THE MOSLEM WORLD
The contents of the pamphlet appear in ten chapters as follows: (i)
Occupation of the Basrah Vilayet; (2) Organization of the Adminis-
tration; (3) The Pacification of the Tribes and Relations with the
Shiah towns up to the fall of Baghdad; (4) Relations with Arab and
Kurdish Tribes and with the Holy Cities after the fall of Baghdad;
(5) The Occupation of Mosul; (6) The Kurdish Question; (7)
Development of the Administration. The Revenue Department; (8)
The Judicial Administration; (9) Organization of the Educational
Department ; Levies and Police, Civil, Medical Service, Department of
Commerce and Industry, Public Works, Railways, Finance, and Estab-
lishment; (10) The National Movement.
The reader ought not to expect too much, for the report is limited,
and intends only to inform up to the time of the beginning of the
Administration created after Great Britain accepted the Mandate for
Mesopotamia; and, hence, nothing is said about the troubles resulting
from the Nationalist Movement, or about the peace movement after
the troubles. Since it is a review of the Administration, only enough
is written, in abbreviated form, about military engagements in order to
explain the need and the conditions for civil administration.
It is interesting to note that England is willing to publish many things
about which otherwise no official information could be obtained. In
reading this pamphlet one can know what actually was promised to
different Arab individuals, and what treaties were made with tribes in
Arabia, and also what methods other than fighting and threats were
used to win the goodwill of the people : for the Arabs were not at any
time conquered in war, but generously submitted to obtain good from
the promises made to them.
Many criticisms are given of the Turks, in their methods and in their
system of ruling the Arabs; and one wonders when reading whether
the new Administration introduced many radical improvements, and
whether more real good had not been accomplished if they had been less
afraid of ofiFending in certain important things. The Administration
can not but have been unfortunate in many of the inexperienced per-
sonnel employed, who did not have time to learn the Arab, nor his
language, nor his habits sufficiently well to satisfy the expectation of
the inhabitants, and hence the unhappy results in certain sections. And
is it not strange for persons of quite opposite religious training to at-
tempt to administer Mohammedan affairs in a Mohammedan way?
For this is the criticism of the Arab in certain instances.
The efforts in education were sincere, if not altogether satisfactory,
for why should the natives wish to have schools of their own apart from
Government when their own religious instructors were regularly ap-
pointed in government schools. It is rather disappointing to notice
from the tables of expenditures on page 119, and of personnel employed
on page 122, that so little was appropriated for education, and so few
British persons were assigned to this work as compared with other de-
partments for constructive good to the people. In the matter of courts
and judicial centres, the Arabs were greatly disappointed, perhaps be-
cause of too great expectations after the unsettled conditions during
Turkish rule. And, although it is true that the revenue collected far
exceeded that of Turkish times, yet many peaceably inclined among the
Arabs suffered, and became dissatisfied because of the unhappy appoint-
BOOK REVIEWS 205
ment of certain foreign and Arab officials, who, because of ignorance or
other reasons, misused their office. And, perhaps for the same reasons,
the Administration did not succeed much better among the tribes in
different sections away from the towns and government centres.
But I am certain the readers of the report will appreciate the quantity
and the quality of the work accomplished for Mesopotamia and its in-
habitants ; and, under increasingly improved conditions, much more good
may be expected.
The pamphlet ought to interest especially advocates of Christian mis-
sions in Arabia and Mesopotamia. In it the Administration acknowl-
edges valuable assistance obtained from the educational and medical
department of the Arabian Mission, which located there many years
previous, and Government there has generously praised the Mission's
work, and has granted many privileges to enlarge and extend the work.
M.
Le Livre De L'Impot Foncier (^Kitah-el-Kharadj) Abu Yousof Yakoub
Traduit et annote par E. Fagnan. pp. 352. Price 40 f r. Paul Geuthner,
13 Rue Jacob, Paris.
This translation of a standard work in a special section of Moslem
law, namely the duties and tribute of non-Moslems under the Islamic
state, is a worthy contribution of French scholarship to the new Bib-
liotheque Archeologique et Historique. It is printed under the auspices
of the High Commissioner of France in Syria ; the notes and indices are
excellent.
Abu Yusuf was born at Kufa 731 A. D. (113 A. H.) and died in
798 A. D. The contents are summarised as follows:
"Conseils sur la conduite a tenir vis-a-vis des sujets. Partage du
butin. Le fey et le kharadj ; conditions dans lesquelles eut lieu la
conquete de I'lrak et de la Syrie ; partage de ces pays et assignations que
fit Omar I. ;£tablissement et perception de I'impot du Sawad. Fiefs
et impot qui les frappe. Condition du pays de guerre et du sol d'Arabie.
Les terres mortes. Terre de dime et de kharadj. Conquete de Ned j ran,
et sa situation speciale. La zekat, son prelevement et son affectation.
Contrats de complant. Les rivieres, leur usage et celui des canaux
derives. Affermage et perception de I'impot. Costume des tributaires;
eglises et synagogues. Prisons; peines ecrites a qui, quand et comment
appliquees. Precedes de combat admissibles. Preciput de I'lmam.
Ayants droit au butin. Les expeditions du Prophete contre la Mekke,
Dhou Khaloga, etc., attribution des biens des vaincus.
"C'est le plus ancien document qui nous soit parvenu sur la nature et
le mode de prelevement des divers impots. Mais en outre des conseils
addresses au Khalife Haroun er-Rechid sur les procedes gouvernementaux
et administratifs, et appuyes par des textes et arguments religieux, il
contient de nombreux renseignements historiques puises aux sources les
plus anciennes, notamment sur la conquete de la Syrie et de la Perse. A
I'attention de juriste a qui TEcole hanefite doit son extension, n'achep-
pent ni le droit criminel ni les dimes diverses ni les rapports avec les
tributaries ou les peuples etrangers." S. M. Z.
Le Golfe Persique. Par R. Vadala, Rousseau et Cie, Editeurs, Paris, 1920.
pp. 151. Price ID frs.
The author is well-known as a writer on economics and commercial
expansion. He knows the Persian Gulf, and dedicates the book to his
2o6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
wife, Christine, who died at the French Consulate at Bushire. After
sketching the geography of the Persian Gulf, he traces the history of
its occupations by various Asiatic and European powers. The Portu-
gese came as early as 1498. In 15 14 they took Ormuz. The Dutch
made their appearance in the Gulf in 1623. In the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries France appeared in the Gulf, and other European
powers made attempts at settlement or political venture. The British,
however, since their first visit in 1573, gradually became dominant,
and are today in control. The author gives full statistics regarding
commerce (emphasizing French interests), sketches a programme for
future commercial development, and concludes with a select, although
far from complete, bibliography covering over twenty-five pages. Valu-
able for reference, but without map or index, and altogether omitting
the ethnology of the various races. S. M. Z.
Facts and Folks in our Fields Abroad. A History of the Achievements,
Failures, Plans and Purposes of the Foreign Missionary Activity of the
United Presbyterian Church of North America. By Anna A. Milligan.
U. P. Board of Publication. 1921.
Miss Milligan has prepared this book particularly as a mission study
work for the various organizations of her own church, and its scope is
therefore limited to the fields touched by that denomination. But while
it is essentially a denominational text book, it deals with the entire
problem in such a way that it might well have been named The Romance
of Missions. It is an apologetic for missions in general, and not for
the United Presbyterian Church alone, and the writer does not hesitate
to criticize the lack of vision of her own denomination in abandoning
certain fields once entered, and in failing to grasp at once the oppor-
tunities presented by the fields now occupied.
As all students of missions know, the fields falling under the
care of Miss Milligan's Board are a part of Northern India, Egypt, the
Egyptian Sudan, and Abyssinia, which has been entered very recently.
All the fields, and particularly the last three, lie under the pall of Islam,
either by Moslem dominance, or as spheres of its missionary activity.
Any one interested in the Moslem problem will find this book not only
a mine of information, but will discover in it a source of inspiration
and encouragement as he reads of the plans for the future and the
prospects of their attainment through the ''407 Movement" and the
"New World Movement" of the United Presbyterian Church. And
withal the book is much more than readable. It came to the study of the
writer of this review in the morning mail some weeks ago, and what
had been intended as a glance through it, resulted in its being read from
cover to cover before being laid down. W. McClean Work.
Turkey. A World Problem of Today. By Talcott Williams. Doubleday,
Page & Co., New York. pp. 324. 1921. Price $3.
The chapters, rewritten, are the Lowell Institute lectures delivered in
January and February, 1920. Since then, events have moved rapidly,
but it is still true, that with its problems unsolved, Turkey remains a
menace to the security of the world. This book tells of its many races
and religions, and the causes that have made it a battleground for thirty
centuries. Talcott Williams, himself born and brought up in Turkey,
gives in popular and compact form a great body of valuable information,
BOOK REVIEWS 207
and indicates what he considers the solution of the problem — namely,
a "Receivership" or a "Mandatory" for Constantinople and part of
Asia Minor, by the United States of America.
The place-names and population estimates given, especially for Arab-
ian territory, are not always accurate. The author knows Islam from
within, and therefore concludes that it and Christianity "are at their
core and centre irreconcilable. The more you see Moslems, and the
more you know and like them, and come to feel for them a sincere
affection as friends and companions whom you trust and value, the
more you realize this. The two may agree to live and let live, but they
cannot merge and speak a common tongue." S. M. Z.
Men and Methods That Win in the Foreign Fields. By J. R. Saunders,
Th. D.. of Graves Theological Seminary, Canton, China. Fleming H.
Revell Company, pp. 121. Price $1.
The author has specially in view conditions in China, yet in the
main the contents of his book are applicable to other fields as well. It
is not a new subject, and what he says is not always new. But on some
points the line of treatment is distinctly fresh, and it is always sane and
practical. The chapter on "The Spiritual Requirements" of the mis-
sionary is particularly good for its unhackneyed and very sensible sug-
gestions. The English style in some places is not all that it might be,
and the frequent use of the objectionable terms "heathen" and "natives"
might well have been avoided. J. G. Hunt.
Les Turcs Et L'Europe. By M. Gaston Gaillard, Paris, Librairie Chapelot,
136 Boulevard Saint Germain. 1920. pp. 381. Price 8 frs.
This book deals with the political questions of the Near East. It
consists of nine chapters entitled as follows: I. The Turks. II. The
Turkish Empire. III. Turkey during the War. IV. Turkey before
the Peace Conference. V. The Occupation of Constantinople. VI.
The Treaty with Turkey. VII. The Dismemberment of the Turkish
Empire. VIII. The Moslems of the Former Russian Empire and
Turkey. IX. Turkey and the Slavs.
In Chapter IV, the author touches on what he calls the Anglo-Amer-
ican Protestant campaign against Turkey. He considers the Anglo-
American conception of the solution of the Turkish problem to be based
on "professional preoccupations," "a pseudo-religious movement," which
is only a cover under which "vast commercial enterprises" can be
launched. He considers "that every enterprise against Islam or against
any other Oriental religion can only serve to reenforce the power of the
Roman Catholic Church that Islam and the other Oriental cults
counterbalance legitimately Rome's dreams against hegemony." He con-
siders pan-Slavism to be the real enemy, and that towards this end it is
in the interests of Europe not to combat Islamism, but to uphold it as
being opposed to pan-Slavism. For him also Islamism represents in the
East a counter-weight to Protestantism, and he says: "In our opin-
ion there would be cause for anxiety about the future of the thought and
morals of the sixty millions of Moslems in India and of its two hun-
dred and twenty millions of Brahmanists, Buddhists, and the votaries of
other sects, if they should ever be converted by the Lloyd Georges and
become Protestants." (!!) It is difficult to believe that the author
writes this in all seriousness. Chapter VII deals with the question
2o8 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Turco-Armenian, Turks and Arabs, the Syrian Questions, etc. It would
seem that the greatest of misfortunes for Islam would be to have its
interests bound up with those of Turkey. Percy Smith.
An Introduction to Mayhayana Buddhism. By Dr. W. M. McGovern, Lon-
don. Kegan Paul. pp. 233. Price J /(A,
This work is designed to supply the average cultured reader with a
brief and simple guide to Buddhism, with special references to the Chi-
nese and Japanese phases. It is a general sketch, not a detailed study
of the main features of the religion, and concludes with a Short History
of Buddhism and Buddhistic Sects, and a survey of Buddhistic Liter-
ature. S. M. Z.
Bahai, The Spirit of the Age. By Horace Holley. pp. 211. Price $2.50.
Brentano's. New York, 1921.
We are faced on the cover of the book with this sweeping assertion ;
"Progressive people of all types and classes recognize the Bahai Move-
ment as the long-awaited World Religion." The truth of this statement
depends wholly on the definition of "progressive people." If the com-
paratively few ill-balanced Americans and Europeans who have become
the followers of Abdul Baha are the progressives, then and only then is
the declaration true. Such exaggerated assertions as. this are the Bahais'
chief stock in trade from Teheran to San Francisco; and this book in
this particular is a sample of all Bahai literature. Let us give one ex-
ample.
Speaking of the Bab, the so-called forerunner of Baha'o'llah, (to use
the orthography of the book), as "the first of the three Cosmic Points,
which determines the plain of reality" (whatever that may mean), the
author launches out into this magnificent claim. "To that Point con-
verged the History of all peoples, the progress of all nations. For this
Point Paul became a witness. For this Point Plato became a witness.
For this Point the pyramids were measured ; the Zodiac hung to girdle
time Of this Point Buddha meditated under the tree of Spiritual
wisdom. Before the emanation of this Point, History was naught but un-
intelligible chaos, without being, without ending, without purpose, with-
out progress, without form save only as a secret to a few." And all this
we are asked to take on the word of — whom ? The principle is a simple
one. If you will only speak confidently, earnestly and insistently enough
some one will believe you, no matter what your claim.
This book also illustrates a second characteristic of all Bahai prop-
aganda, — a cool indifference to facts, or to speak more frankly, a de-'
liberate misstatement of facts. Of this too we can give but one example.
We are told that Baha'o'llah was "a forty years' prisoner in a vile
Turkish dungeon." The facts are these. For two years he was con-
fined in barracks at Acca; he was restricted to his own home for nine
more years; and for the rest of the time until his death he lived in a
palatial residence, called Bahja, which he built for himself outside of
Acca. In this period he had the freedom of the country, and was in no
sense confined. These facts have been so often pointed out that the mis-
statement we fear is deliberately put forth to win the undeserved sym-
pathy of the uninformed.
A third characteristic of Bahai literature seen in this book to perfec-
tion, although we believe the author is a son of the West rather than of
BOOK REVIEWS 209
the East, is the absurdly mystic and meaningless phraseology with which
its thought is clothed and concealed. The Truth, which is to enlighten
the world is nothing but a fog, the Water of Life is as unfit to satisfy the
thirsty soul as a mirage in the desert.
The greater part of the book is given to the attempted illucidation of
the "Cosmic Trinity." Truth, Will and Love, which are manifested in
the three Points that fix the Plain of Reality, — the Bab, Baha'o'llah and
Abdul Baha; and to Bahai messages to Christianity, Judaism, Science,
Politics, Christian Science, New Thought and Theosophy. The mes-
sage to Christianity is a brazen effort to arrogate to Baha'o'llah the
prophecies of the Old Testament regarding Christ, (such as Isa. 9:6;
11: 1-4; 35: II, 2), and many passages in the New Testament, which
are allegorized without rhyme or reason. The opening sentence of
this chapter is "Nowhere in the world today is such reverence paid
to Christ, such devotion felt for the spirit of Christ, such fidelity of
thought and action rendered the teachings of Christ as among the fol-
lowers of Abdul Baha." This is palpably untrue, when we remember
that to the Bahai, Christ is a back number, his teachings out of date,
and his claim to be "the way, the truth and life" superseded.
We wonder that any one can read this book without realizing that
Bahaism has to offer the hungry soul nothing but a stone.
Robert M. Labaree.
Morocco That Was. By W. B. Harris. 333 pp., 255. net. Blackwood, London,
1921.
The author was Times correspondent in Morocco for something like
thirty years, and as such came into frequent and intimate contact with
the court, especially the last sultan Mulai (i. e. Prince) Abdul Aziz,
and also with the chiefs and their retainers among whom he moved
freely, aided by the fact that he went unarmed and had an intimate
knowledge of Arabic and the local dialects. It is a pity that a practised
writer should not have spent a little time in straightening out the
narrative and avoiding repetitions and mispellings such as Ghrailani for
Jilani or Gilani the great saint of Bagdad. But the story that he tells,
though a very sad one, is exceedingly interesting and is set forth with
the impressionist verve of an able newspaper correspondent.
The Filali sultans of Morocco are sharif or noble, that is direct
descendants of Mohammed, and their dynasty dating from the seven-
teenth century has been one of the minor claimants to the Califate.
Mulai Abdul Aziz came to the throne in 1894 ^t the age of twelve.
By the time he was twenty he desired to assert himself, and we are
assured by the writer that he was "thoughtful, intelligent and desirous
of doing well" but the multitude of good resolutions effectually paved
his path to perdition. The way was made easy for him by his viziers,
who liberally used the ill offices of European traders to keep the monarch
diverted from affairs of state by a constant supply of costly novelties.
The court of Morocco became the happy hunting ground of the com-
mercial traveler. Fireworks, motor cars, menageries, jewelry and a
score of other hobbies filled the palace domains with stacks of discarded
valuables brought at immense cost to the inland capital through roadless
country. At length the treasury was empty and the regiments, starved
save for loot, and unpaid always, revolted. The struggle between
French and German influence became more and more acute after the
2IO THE MOSLEM WORLD
Kaiser's visit to Tangier in 1905; half the country was dominated by
a lowbred pretender and there was nothing left but for the descendant
of the prophet to yield to French pressure and hand in his abdication,
which he did in 191 2. The rest of the story is occupied with the sordid
huckstering of the ex-monarch for each item of the bargain and the tepid
reception which he met with from the French public after landing at
Marseilles. Meanwhile a more virile figure had emerged on the scene
in the person of the brigand chief Raisuli. Mr. Harris was himself at
one time a prisoner in Raisuli's hands and his sketch of the adroitness
and daring by which this petty chieftain (a sharif, however, also)
acquired local control till he was able to play off one European power
against another and defy the armies of Spain, is the most interesting
part of the book. Mr. Harris' prediction that "he will wage a guerilla
campaign of midnight attack and murder that will last long and prove
costly in its toll of lives among the invaders of the country" has been
more than fulfilled. Will Spain succeed in bringing prosperity and
justice to the country? It is more than five centuries since the Spaniard
diove the last of the Moors out of Andalusia, but as far as the story
of the Times correspondent goes, it is the medical work carried on by
lady missionaries which seems for the first time to have given the
Moroccan Moslem an inkling of what Christianity really means.
H. U. Weitbrecht-Stanton.
Glimpses of Persia. By M. M. Wood. 76 pp., is. 6d. Church Missionary
Society, London, 192 1.
One of the excellent descriptive books put forth by this Society,
full of interest and information. Historical landmarks, contemporary
conditions and evangelistic contact are sketched with a light touch — a
happy knack of leaving humorous paradox and startling novelty to tell
their own story without blunting their edge by solemn explanation.
This heightens the spiritual fervors of an appeal which will drive home
the needs of Persia to many a heart.
H. U. Weitbrecht-Stanton.
Bland Persiens Muhammedaner. av L. E. Hogberg. Stockholm : Swedish
Mission Society. 1920. pp. 256. Illustrated.
An admirable account of Islam in Persia, including a sketch of Babi-
Behaism and the Ali-Allahi sect with impressions gained on journeys
through Kurdistan and North Persia. The writer went out as a pioneer
missionary in 1889 to Kashgar and knows the country. The references
to the work of the Church Missionary Society and that of the Presby-
terian Mission, however, are rather casual, and wholly inadequate. The
book is well printed and attractively illustrated, but has neither map nor
index.
Dr. Imad-id-Din. Selvbiografi oversat of Freda Bronsted. Copenhagen.
1915.
Korancn eg Biblen. Alfred Nielsen. Aarhus. 1918.
Hinsides det Kaspiske Hav Fra en Orientrejse ved Krigens Udbrud.
Arthur Christensen. Kobenhavn og Kristiania. 1918. pp. 247.
Skildringer Fra Syrien. Kobenhavn. 1920. pp. 50. i Kr.
Skildringer af Syriskc Medarbcjderc. Ved Alfred Nielsen. Kobenhavn.
1917. pp. 52.
BOOK REVIEWS 211
Til Hans Acre. M. K. S. Hoist. Kobenhavn. 1916. pp. i8.
Muhammedanismen som Verdensreligion. Fr. Buhl. Gyldendalske Bog-
handel. Kobenhavn. 1914. pp. 60.
Fra Persien. Af Frede Bronsted. Missions-Bibliotheket. Kobenhavn.
1917. pp. 67.
Koranens Aag. Af Agnes Clausen. Jensen & Ronagers Bogtrykkeri
Kobenhavn pp. 224.
Islam. Ikortfattet FremstilHng af J. Ostrup. Kobenhavn. 1914.
Ved Afghanstans Graense. Af Eduard Geismar. Kobenhavn. 1917.
pp. 134, with maps.
Bag Libanons Bjerge. Alfred Nielsen. Aarhus. 1918. 2 kr. pp. 159.
We call attention to these books as indicating a rising interest in the
Moslem problem in Denmark. Two of them are of special interest.
Koranen og Biblen gives an account of the contents and character of
the Koran and in Danish as hitherto no version of the Koran has appeared
in that language. Professor Buhl discusses Islam as a w^orld religion
and its place in history. He is well known among Orientalists for his
"Life of Mohammed" reviewed in our Quarterly some years ago.
S. M. ZWEMER.
An Aid to Practical Written Arabic. By Rev. J. Van Ess, M.A. 21/-
net, cr. 8vo. Oxford University Press. 1920.
This reader will be very useful indeed for the student who knows
grammar or is studying it simultaneously. The author has made it quite
clear, by more than one remark, that this does not profess to be a gram-
mar, but notwithstanding, the twenty-five pages of grammar notes will
be a help to many, and may enable the student to understand letters
written to hint, though he would probably need a grammar to enable
him to write such letters.
The main object of the book is shown by the space given to each sec-
tion: first, we have twenty-five pages of grammar notes; then forty
pages of reading selection, mostly printed by ordinary typography, but
some reproduced by photo process from the lithographed Koran, all of
which are highly useful; then, thirty-five pages of specimens of script
accompanied by transliteration to ordinary Arabic letter print, as well as
by the translation, — the Koranic selections might have been similarly
transliterated. But the main body of the book occupying 260 pages is
a very good vocabulary, which is of splendid value to the student except
that a few of the words are surely somewhat unusual ; e.g. "Ibreesurn' the
Persian word used for 'silk,' rather than the common Arabic word
"hareer'f The last 20 pages consist of "words which sometimes con-
fuse."
The type, though small and of what is called the London variety, is
quite clear and the very few misprints not worth recording, for the book
had Professor Margoliouth's valuable over-sight whilst at press. This
is so valuable a reader to use in connection with an Arabic grammar that
I could wish that all my students possessed it. A. T. Upson.
The Primacy of the Missionary, and other addresses, by Archibald McLean.
The Christian Board of Publication, St. Louis, Mo. 1920. pp. 380.
One would wish that this volume, or at least considerable parts of it,
might be read before many of the churches and young people's organiza-
tions in Christian lands. It would certainly tend to correct the impres-
212 THE MOSLEM WORLD
sion prevailing among so many that the foreign mission work of the
church is an incidental and secondary matter in its existence. Dr.
McLean proposes to put the emphasis where Christ placed it, in the train-
ing of men for missionary ministry, in the correction of the Church's
attitude from that of perfunctory contributions to the creation of at least
as much interest in missions as it has in automobiles, in the encourage-
ment and approval of those who consider missionary appointment, in the
prayers and in the hymnology of the Church.
R. S. McClenahan.
Is Christianity the Final Religion? By Rev. A. C. Bouquet. London:
Macmillan. 10/6.
The author is one of the Secretaries for the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, and maintains his conviction that Christ is the
absolute revelation of God, and Christianity different from the other
religions not only in degree but in kind. He holds, however, that it is
no longer possible to live upon the moral reassertions of Christianity
without reexamining the argument and claim for its finality. After deal-
ing with the attempts of Continental theologists to grapple with the
problem, he gives as his answer, in the final chapters, the conclusion that
no religion can supersede the revelation of God in the New Testament.
The reviewer has tested this book on a group of young Eg^^ptian nation-
alists who read it so eagerly on a train journey that they failed to return
it! S. M. Z.
The Burial of the Dead. By W. H. F. Basevi. London: George Rout-
ledge & Sons Ltd. pp. 208. Price 7/6.
The author holds that the custom of placing funeral offerings in graves
originated in the remote period when graves were not receptacles for the
dead, but refuges for the living. The book is based on the evolutionary
hypothesis, and we cannot follow the author in all his conclusions; but
as in the case of Frazer's The Golden Bough, the collection of facts is
most interesting. We may learn for example that the Bridge (Sirat) to
Paradise in Islam, the sacrifices to the dead at the grave, and the very
shape of the grave itself in all Moslem lands, are due to animistic beliefs.
The belief in a double soul or Qarina in Islam is treated in the chapter
on ghosts.
Recent Discoveries in Luke's Writings. Lt.-Col. G. Mackinlay. Marshall
Brothers. London. 12/6 net.
That Luke did, as the author represents, group his lesson incidents
from the life of our Lord in such fashion as, in some measure, to pass
three times over Christ's life, or parts of it, is certainly well known : at
least I have known it a long time, and did not suppose any one disputed
it. It is surprising to find the author laboring with such patience to
prove it now. Dr. Stanton's criticism seems to me to sum up the whole
case (p. 243.)
"I do not doubt that the great themes on which you lay stress occupied
the mind of St. Luke. But whether he intended to emphasize those
themes by a system of triplications extending through large portions of
his two works is far more questionable."
The marvelously multiplied "triplification" which the author finds in
the Gospel and in the Acts is undoubtedly, in some measure, artificial,
BOOK REVIEWS .213
obtained by bringing together things from far separated, and very dis-
tinct, portions, and pointing out ''contrasts" that are purely subjective.
There is not the slightest indication that many of these latter had any
place in the mind of the author of the Gospel and the Acts.
Altogether, it may be said that such cryptograms as the author finds
may be worked out to w^onderful perfection elsewhere in literature, e.g.
the cryptogram in Shakespeare. Not many believe in that, and yet the
proof, of that sort, for Baconian authorship of Shakespeare is made out
far better than this cryptogram in Luke's works. It does not seem to me
that God, wishing to reveal a plan of salvation to a lost world, would
use a cryptogramic method. A real revelation cannot consistently use a
cryptogramic method. It may use apocalyptic visions and allegorical
names and numbers, but deliberately to conceal is not to reveal.
The author's work is, indeed, conceived in a good cause which has my
utmost sympathy, and his work is done in a most admirable spirit, but, I
am persuaded, that, on the whole, it is by a bad method.
M. G. Kyle.
Le Traite de Paix Avec la Turquie, I'Attitude des Musulmans et de
rinde. 1920. pp. 17.
M. Lloyd George et la Delegation Indienne Pour le Califat. 1920. pp.
32.
The Turcophobia of the English Imperialists. 1919. pp. 20.
The British Labour and the Orient. By Halil Halid. Berne. 1919. pp.
40.
Les Vautours et la Turquie. By Docteur Nevzad. pp. 24. Price i fr.
Greek Atrocities in Turkey. 1921. Illustrated, pp. 153/5.
Le Regime d'Occupation Hellenique en Turquie. Published by the Bureau
Permanent du Congres Turc de Lausanne. Lausanne. 1921. pp. 48.
This series of pamphlets is kept on sale by the Bureau d'Information
Islamic, 24 Rue Taitbout, Paris. They consist of strong propagandist
material in English and French, concerning the Turkish situation and
the question of the Khalifat. Those who desire to know what can
be said on the Turkish side of the question will here find abundance
of material, although much of it is partisan and unreliable. S. M. Z.
La Syrie. Precis historique par le P. H. Lammens. Vol. I. Beirut. Impr,
Catholique, in-12. pp. IX-279. 1921. 7 frs.
This concise volume gives the reader a survey of the history of Syria
since the Arab Conquest until the time of the Crusaders. The Intro-
duction gives a general review of the earlier history of Syria and there
is a brief chapter on Arabia and the Rise of Islam.
Islam en Christendom. Door Mevrouw J. C. Van Andel-Rutgers. Derde,
druk. Uitgave van den Zendingsstudieraad. Rotterdam. 1921.
It is encouraging to find that within ten years this missionary text-
book for Dutch circles has appeared in a Third Edition. A special
chapter is devoted to Islam in Central Java. For the rest the book
is largely based on Canon Gairdner's "Rebuke of Islani\
214 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Manuale di Bibliografia Musulmana. By Prof. Giuseppe Gabrieli. Parte
Prima. Bibliografia Generale. Roma: Tipografia DeH'Unione Editrice.
1 91 6. pp. 491-
This is the first part of an exhaustive and scientific bibliography on
Islam and Moslem lands. The compiler is Professor of Arabic and
Literature at the University of Rome, and has had the cooperation of
Prince Leone Caetani, and Prof. Celestino Schaiparelli by the use of
their extensive libraries and collections.
Part I consists (i) of a general annotated bibliography of catalogues
and encyclopaedias and dictionaries of literature; (2) Periodicals and
Oriental publications, bulletins, etc., that deal with Islam in the widest
sense, indicating in every case the title, publisher and the number of
volumes available; (3) Journals of Oriental Societies and translations
published by such societies; (4) Miscellaneous papers published in
memory of Orientalists or as tributes to their scholarship; (5) Records
and journals of national and international gatherings for Oriental study.
Next we have a complete list of schools of Oriental studies in every
part of the world. This brings us to page 109 where the Index proper
really begins. It is classified into: (i) Works on Grammar and Mos-
lem languages; (2) Collections of MSS. and inscriptions; (3) Book
catalogues; (4) Numismatics: (this section alone covers 29 pages);
(5) Archeology; (6) works on the Moslem Calendar, of which the
author enumerates twenty-two, and supplements it with a comparative
table of the Moslem and the Christian eras from A. H. n to the present
date, 1339.
An Appendix gives a list of all the Oriental MSS. in the Italian
National Library. The book is well indexed, but also has, alas, forty
pages of additions and corrections. S. M. Z.
La Linguistique ou Science du Langage. By J. Marouzeau. Paris : Paul
Geuthner. 1921. pp. 189.
A condensed textbook on phonetics and the evolution of language
by a professor at the Language School in Paris. The Indo-European
languages are specially treated, and there is a good bibliography for the
use of the student. As an introductory textbook it can be strongly
recommended. S. M. Z.
Sous les figuiers de Kabylie. Scenes de la vie berbere. By Charles Geniaux.
Paris: Ernest Flammarion. pp. 281. Price 3 f. 50.
The writer is eye-minded and can make us see with him the tawny
country, the jagged hills, the precious mountain streams, and the hill-
side villagers, with their inveterate blood-feuds and their tragic proverb
"Tout dort sauf Veau et Vinimitie." We are well content to have
M. Geniaux record for us the bizarre and sunlit color of this strange
land, whose mingled beauty and hardness are summed up in his picture
of the donkey dying among the red rocks on the hillside (p. 195).
When the book turns to human problems M. Geniaux becomes an
apologist for a policy of rapid assimilation to French ideas and the
encouragement of the immigration of part of the dense Berber popu-
lation to districts in France where labor is needed. High praise is given
to lonely schoolmasters in outlying districts of Kabylie who are mis-
sionaries of France and French culture ; and kind and respectful words
are accorded to Roman Catholic missionaries as helping by their sym-
BOOK REVIEWS 215
pathetic touch in the task of making Kabylia a French department
overseas. Whether consenting or no to France's colonial policy, one
must at least see the difficulty of her task in ruling a country always
on the edge of hunger and too poor in natural resources to support her
virile population, dense as that of Belgium. Constance E. Padwick.
Les Penseurs de I'lslam. By Baron Carra de Vaux. Tome i. Les Souv-
erains, I'Histoire et la Philosophie politique. Paris: Paul Geuthner.
1921. 8 francs.
The first of five volumes of about 300 pages each on the history of
thought in Islam in a series of biographical studies. The first volume
deals chiefly with the following biographies or periods: Les Abbaside-
Khalifes, Mansur, Haroun el-Rachid, Saladin, Souverains de la Turquie
et de rinde, Soliman, Babers Akbar, Les Historiens Arabes, Tabari,
Masoudi, Ibn el-Athir, Abou '1-Feda, Makrizi, Makkari, Firdousi,
Mirkhond, Hadji Khalfa, Ibn Khaldoun, Zamakhchari, Meidani. The
final chapter is on Arab music and its literature. Tome 2-5 have not
yet appeared from the press, but our readers will be interested in the
proposed contents:
Volume 2 : La philosophie scolastique. Les geographes. — Les sciences
mathematiques et naturelles.
Volume 3 : L'Exegese ; la Jurisprudence et la Theologie.
Volume 4: La Mystique et les Sectes.
Volume 5 : Le Mouvement intellectuel dans I'lslam moderne.
Evangelische Missionskunde. Von D. Julius Richter. Leipzig: A.^
Deichertsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Dr. Werner Scholl. 1920. pp. 463.
No more important work on the science of missions has appeared for
a decade, than this work by Prof. Richter, who occupies the Chair of
the Science of Missions at the University of Berlin. The author
divides his subjects as follows: After giving in Part I, the Biblical
grounds for missions in the Old Testament and as taught by Jesus
Christ and Paul (pages 1-18), he goes on in part II to show the
missionary teaching of the Bible. Part III is on missionary apologetics,
as regards primitive races. East Asiatic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism
and Islam. Under the last section (pages 172 to 194) we have a
history of Moslem controversy, succinct and, in the main, accurate,
although here as elsewhere in the volume the transcription of English
names is not always correct. Part IV occupies more than half of the
volume, and deals with the history of missions abroad, and of the
missionary idea in the church at home. One of the most valuable features
of the book is the full bibliography given in foot-notes throughout.
S. M. Z.
1
The Siwi Language. By W. Seymour Walker. Foreword by H. E. Wilson
Pasha. London: Kegan Paul. pp. 96. 1921. los. 6d.
As a grammar this book is important to only a very small group of
linguists. The dialect of Siwi is spoken by only three thousand people
and they have no written language. The author cannot have much
knowledge of Arabic, which, he says, has been super-imposed on Siwi.
In the vocabularies there are scores of words which are Arabic corrup-
tions, most of them easily recognizable by omitting the / prefixed. Yet
the author says there is no definite article in Siwi. Sugar-cane is given
21 6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
as loksub (sing.), loksuban (plu.) ,* whip as assoot (sing.), assowat
(plu.) ; wind lehoowa. All this is really Arabic colloquial.
The notes on legends and superstitions as well as the description of
the oases, itself, with its beautiful photographs, are most interesting.
S. M. Z.
One Hundred Years of Singapore. Edited by Walter Makepeace, Gilbert
E. Brooke and Roland St. J. Braddell. 2 vols., pp. xvi, 592; x. 668.
John Murray, London. 1921.
A most interesting and comprehensive history of one of the great
seaports of the world, which lies in perhaps the most strategic location
in all Asia. A hundred years ago there was only a mere cluster of
fishermen's huts on a tiny island which was only known as a haunt
of Malay pirates. Founded in 18 19 by that great statesman. Sir Stam-
ford Raffles, Singapore is now a modern city of 300,000 inhabitants,
the commercial center of South-eastern Asia, and of the Eastern
Archipelago, with its fifty millions of brown men of the various Malayan
races, and with its vast resources in minerals and tropical products.
But Singapore is not merely a great trading port, it is also the religious
center of one-fourth of the entire Moslem population of the world, and as
such its history cannot be without interest to our readers. This very
handsome book, which is profusely illustrated, and has an excellent
index and chronological summary, consists of twenty-three chapters deal-
ing with the history, government, commerce, and various races identified
with the life of the city, and its social and religious institutions. Between
twenty and thirty different writers have contributed articles on the
various subjects dealt with, each writer being an expert in the particular
line with which he has to do. The chapters dealing with the Moham-
medan rulers who handed the little island of Singapore over to the
officials of the British East India Company will be of particular interest
to our readers, and also the article on Malay piracy, which in the early
days of Singapore was a serious menace to all the shipping which had to
pass those waters on the way to China, and as Raffles himself tells us,
was fostered or at least encouraged by practically all the Mohammedan
Sultans and Rajas of those days, until it was finally stamped out when
armed steam launches were employed to follow the piratical prahus
into the creeks and rivers where they used to hide. Out of the total
population of 300,000, the great majority are Chinese, over 200,000;
the Malays number roughly 40,000, and there are perhaps 3,000 Mo-
hammedans from Hindustan, and more than a thousand Arabs, making
a total Moslem population of about 45,000; but as one reads this
book one is struck by the fact that in proportion to their numbers the
Mohammedans have contributed very little indeed to the progress and
commercial prosperity of the Colony. It is the Chinese more than any of
other Asiatic race who have made it possible for Singapore to become
the great commercial center which it is today. While Chinese who
came to Singapore as penniless immigrants have prospered and become
great merchants and shipowners, and some of them millionaires, and
have taken their part in the life of the community as members of the
Municipal and Legislative Councils, the Malays from lack of ambition
and industry have been content to remain in comparative poverty with
little or no education, and taking but little part in the life of the city.
W. G. S.
SURVEY OF PERIODICALS
By Miss Hollis W. Hering^ New York^
Missionary Research Library.
I. GENERAL.
Abyssinia Under Menelik and After. G. E. Underbill.
{The Quarterly Review^ London. January, 1922. pp. 33-52.)
An historical survey of the reign of Menelik II, from the time
when he was merely a successful raider, through his attempted
reforms, to when, after his death, Yasu officially placed the
country in religious dependence upon the Sultan of Turkey.
Closes with a dark picture of present conditions.
Armenia Today. John H. Finley. (American Review of Re-
views, New York. January, 1922. pp. 81-84.)
A summary of the work of the Near East Relief and the
terrible conditions it is fighting. Attempts also to explain why
the situation in Armenia today is worse than it has been at any
time since the armistice.
The Fight for Life in the Near East. William E. Doughty.
( The Missionary Review of the World, New York. January,
1922. pp. 31-38.)
"The experiences of an American who in a recent visit saw the
missionaries and other workers standing between tens of thou-
sands and death and beheld the process of training the Near East
leaders of tomorrow." The work of the Near East Relief, fully
illustrated.
An Interview with King Faisal of Iraq. Captain A. H.
Roberts. {The Asiatic Review, London. January, 11 922. pp.
37-43.)
The interview was given to Captain Roberts on the arrival of
Faisal in Basrah as the accredited candidate for the rulership of
Mesopotamia, and embodies the Amir's views as to the condition
of the country, and his future policy. The article also summar-
izes his first speeches in Basrah, with their appeal for the cooper-
ation and help of the people in working for the welfare of
Iraq as a nation.
The Troubles of the Holy Land. Vivian Gabriel. {The
Edinburgh Review, London. January, 1922. pp. 1-25.)
When the British under AUenby came into Palestine they were
welcomed with the deepest joy and enthusiasm; now, after some
years of British occupation, recent visitors to the country find the
population sullen, morose, angry, their faith in British promises
profoundly shaken. Here is an unusually clear and forceful
2117
2iS THE MOSLEM WORLD
account of the governmental policy and Zionist action which have
developed in the people this grim attitude of opposition.
IL ISLAM IN ARABIA,
III. HISTORY OF ISLAM.
IV. KORAN, TRADITIONS, THEOLOGY.
V. RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
A Boy in Persia. Youel B. Mirza. {Asia, New York, De-
cember, 192 1, pp. 1006-1010, 1048, et seq.)
Impressionistic remembrances of a boyhood in Persia, with vivid
sketches of everyday happenings. Good for local color for those
desiring to interest young people. One of a series of such articles
running in the periodical.
Le Cercle des Tagouanas. Etude ethnographique. A. Char-
tier. {UAfrique Frangaise, Paris. Renseignements Coloniaux.
November, 1921. pp. 249-274. December, 1921. pp. 282-
289.)
A careful ethnographical study of a racial group on the Ivory
Coast. The group is divided into two sections — the Djiminis,
who are Animists, with a religion based on the power of the dead ;
and the Dyoulas, who are Moslems. The study treats largely
of the Djiminis, though by no means exclusively; and inasmuch
as the Dyoulas are only Mohammedans on the surface, what is
said concerning the one group applies largely to the other. The
December installment is, devoted to the religious beliefs and life
of the people.
The Fealty of the Tribes: a chapter in the history of 'Iraq.
Iraqiyah. (The Fortnightly Review, London. November,
1921. pp. 752-757-)
A vivid picture of how the Arab shaikhs of the Dulaim ac-
cepted the Emir Faisal as their overlord, swearing to him allegi-
ance and personal fealty.
Travels and Hazards in Central Asia. I. In Kafiristan
and Kara-kum. Ikbal Ali Shah. {Asia, New York. February,
5922. pp. 121-126, 154.)
An entertaining account of a decidedly hazardous journey taken
by an Afghan noble disguised as a mullah, and of various inter-
esting customs which he came across. The influence of the Rus-
sians is noted, and there is a sketch map of "Afghanistan, the un-
tamed neighbor of British India."
VI. POLITICAL RELATIONSHIPS.
The Egyptian Deadlock. Sir Valentine Chirol. {The Fort-
nightly Review, London. January, 1922. pp. 1-12.)
A critical examination of England's policy in Egypt, and a
plea for settling this on the basis of reason and statesmanship
SURVEY OF PERIODICALS 219
rather than on that of militarism. The growth of nationalist
feeling is shown to be more than the outcome of the war, al-
though greatly stimulated by that; while the danger to Moham-
medan and Arab feeling throughout the Empire that lurks in the
departure from the Milner recommendations and the adoption
of the repressive views of the War Office is clearly indicated.
Great Britain and France in the East. Arnold J. Toynbee.
{The Contemporary Review, London. January, 1922. pp.
23-31.)
Sub-title: "The Greco-Turkish Situation." After showing
what seeds of disaster lie in the present drifting policy in regard
to the Near East, a plea is made for the French and British gov-
ernments to enter into an "entente over the Near and Middle
East like the entente which they succeeded in making in 1904
over Africa... and other regions where relations were strained
by old misunderstandings." Closes with a discussion on how the
possibilities of such an agreement are affected by the local Greco-
Turkish situation.
Our Manifest Destiny — Egypt. Lord Teignmouth. {The
Nineteenth Century y London. November, 1921. pp. 745-
753.)
A vigorous protest against the attitude that England's su-
premacy in Egypt has been due to political scheming or "greed of
territory." By a brief review of history and the comments of
foreign writers on the successive events, an attempt is made to
show how England's position has been gained in the country in
spite of her politicians, almost as a matter of fate.
The Problem of Asia Minor. "Adalia." {The Edinburgh
Review, London. January, 1922. pp. 1 31-146.)
It is generally admitted that one of the grave mistakes of post-
war diplomacy was entrusting the reorganization of Western
Asia Minor to the Greeks, and attempting to wipe out the Turkish
nation. The successive steps are here traced from the time of
the Armistice, when the Turks were willing to submit to the
Allies, through their resistance to the inefficiency and revengeful
presumption of the Greeks, up to the present admission on the
part of even ardent Turkish nationalists of the necessity of foreign
assistance in the tangle.
Within the Porte Called Subume. Demetra Vaka. {Asia,
New York. February, 1922. pp. 87-93, 146, 148, 1150.)
Impressions received in Constantinople after an absence of
twenty years. The superficial changes are noted, but are sub-
ordinated to a survey of the political results of the city's occu-
pation by the Five Powers. It is a city of lost splendor, "a city
to make one weep," yet of the most intense feeling, swept by
change and passionate emotion.
220 THE MOSLEM WORLD
VIL MOHAMMEDAN MISSIONS.
Arabian Children at Home. Eleanor T. Calverley. {The
Missionary Review of the World, New York. November,
192 1, pp. 835-840.)
Really a contrast between the influence of the environment in
which Christian and Arabian children are nurtured. The pos-
sibilities of the Arabian children, and the virile characteristics
they inherit all become warped through lack of good home
influence. Author is a medical missionary at Kuweit.
The Mohammedan World. H. U. Weitbrecht-Stanton. {The
Church Missionary Review, London. December, 1921. pp.
357-361.)
A survey of events in the preceding three months as they afFect
Moslems. The relations between the Turks and Indians are
noted, as well as those between Moslem and Hindu in India.
The situation in Afghanistan, the results of Dr. Eddy's evan-
gelistic meetings in India, and the propagation of Islam in non-
Moslem lands are all treated in turn.
Palestine and the Near East as a Mission. H. C. Way-
man. {Home and Foreign Fields^ Nashville, Tenn. February,
1922. pp. 41-43.)
A survey of Syria, giving briefly characteristics of the land and
of the inhabitants; the religions and churches there represented;
the problems resulting from race prejudices, antagonistic faiths,
and the failure of missionary work there. On the other hand,
the hopeful signs are indicated, wjth the brightening oppor-
tunities for missionary endeavor.
Persia — Some Reversed and Unreversed Impressions. Ed-
ward Mills Dodd, M.D. {Woman s Work, New York. De-
cember, 1 92 1, pp. 265-260.)
A search for the sparks of life in a discouraging Moslem
country. Although some of the outstanding faults and wild law-
lessness of the present time are mentioned, the belief is em-
phatically stated that Persia is not an "awful" country, but one
full of tremendous latent possibilities, and where the high respect
in which Americans are held is making increasingly possible wide-
spread missionary work.
Signs of the Times in Moslem Lands. By a Forty- Year
Resident of Turkey. {The Missionary Review of the World,
New York. January, 1922. pp. 27-30.)
The war profoundly affected the political control of Turkey
over the far-scattered Mohammedans; here are noted signs of a
breakdown in the spiritual hold of Islam over the millions of
Turkish subjects. There is an accompanying map of the Near
East, showing the partition of Turkey due to the World War.
TheMoSLEMWORLD
VOL. XII JULY, 1922 No. 3
EDITORIAL
NOT FOR BUT WITH ORIENTAL
CHRISTIANS
A century ago the first missionaries to the Near East
were sent out for the distinct purpose of proclaiming the
Gospel to the Moslems. Upon their arrival they found
themselves face to face with ancient Christian churches —
Greek, Armenian, Coptic, which for five centuries had
been under the restraining and heart-breaking domination
of Islam.
Those five centuries of Moslem over-lordship had
wrought havoc in these churches. The illiteracy, the stag-
nation, the intolerance of Islam had sifted through in a
thousand places into the Christian communities. The
devitalizing of spiritual religion to a nationalistic cult,
where State and Church are one, where nationality and
religion are confused, as in Islam, had laid hold of the
Christian churches in the Near East.
In spite of all the deadening influences, the Gospel was
still read, though often in an unknown tongue; the Cross
remained the symbol of a life laid down for the sins of the
world, even when the spiritual depths of its message were
lost on many; the name of Jesus was to be heard on the
lips of children, even though they knew little of His won-
drous life.
Toward these Christian communities the early mis-
sionaries felt a special responsibility. They followed
221
222 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the admonition of St. Paul to "Remember especially the
household of faith." '^Love the brethren." So they gave
themselves first of all to their Christian brothers. In-
stantly there was a ready response. New light broke into
the darkness. The Gospel was proclaimed from the
church altars, interest in Bible study revived, prayer was
heard in the home, but persecution followed. Gospel
preaching was forbidden. Bible study was frowned upon,
private prayer spoken against. Those were hard times.
Out of the trial brought upon the more spiritual souls
by a leadership which cared more for its own glory than
for the glory of God, there came forth the Protestant
churches of the Near East. They were formed by men
and women driven out of the old churches by persecution
and excommunication. These were men and women who,
like our own Pilgrim Fathers, for conscience sake faced
the loss of all things that they might worship God accord-
ing to the dictates of their hearts and pray together for the
triumph of Christ's kingdom.
Thank God those hard days are over. Little by little a
change has come into the old churches of the Near East.
The mission schools, the friendships formed, as time went
by, between the missionaries and members of the old
churches, the growth of tolerance in the old communions,
have all contributed to this end. And in these latter days
in Turkey, Gregorian and Protestant, Greek Orthodox
and Greek Evangelical have faced persecution and death
together for the faith that is in Christ. A new spirit of
cooperation is felt throughout the Christian forces of the
Near East today.
There are many links that should bind us even closer.
We have, after all, the same Gospel in our churches, we
repeat the same great general confession of our faith in
*'God the Father Almighty and in Jesus Christ His only
Son our Lord." Together we hold to the "Communion
of Saints," and look together for the Resurrection morn-
ing. And when the hour of persecution comes, it is often
EDITORIAL 223
the brother of the old church who suffers the most for his
allegiance to Christ.
There is a hand held out today by these historic
churches. We should grasp that hand with all the warmth
that Christian brotherhood demands. How well I re-
member the Christmas morning when I preached for the
first time in a great Gregorian church in Asia Minor. 1
had been most cordially invited by the local bishop and
the Armenian Committee. Four years before I had stood
in the streets of that city while these same friends were
being driven out to exile and death. Only one-third of
those who went out on that terrible day came back. Their
bones whiten the sands of the desert, but they died as
Christians. And on that early Christmas morning, amid
the light of hundreds of candles, I tried to bring to those
who were left, who had survived those years of horror,
the message of the Christ-Child. Since then I have
spoken in both Armenian and Greek churches. In fact
throughout the length and breadth of the Near East today
the old churches are reaching out hands of brotherhood to
us. When Sherwood Eddy made his recent tour of this
part of the world, he was given freedom to speak in the
pulpits of the largest and most important churches of the
Near East. The bishops and clergy everywhere gave
their unstinted friendship to Mr. Eddy's mission.
On my way to the great Conference of the World's
Christian Student Federation in Peking, I am bearing a
message of brotherly love from the Archbishop of the
Greek Orthodox Church of Asia Minor. In his greeting
to the Christians gathering at that Conference he writes:
''Though I am absent in the body from your midst I am
present in spirit, and pray with all my soul for the success
of the work of this apostolic convention, whose fruits will
be tasted by those near and those far oflf. Convey, I beg
you, the greetings of the Church in Smyrna, and of all the
churches of the Seven Candles of the Apocalypse, to all
the delegates."
224 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Today throughout the Near East missionaries are
preaching in the old churches, and the leaders of these
churches share in our services. In many college chapels,
in student conferences, and in other services they are glad
to share. In the Coptic Church in Egypt there is a society
known as the Friends of the Bible, composed of young
men. This society was formed to awaken a deeper inter-
est in Bible study among the men of the Coptic Church.
In Asia Minor there is a strong group of young men in the
Greek Church who do lay-preaching in the churches and
in halls. They have a preaching service every Sunday
afternoon in a large hall in Smyrna. Among the student
volunteers in the volunteer bands in the colleges the most
earnest and active of the members have been and are from
the old churches.
In this new day, then, what a challenge presents itself to
us all who love the name of Jesus to join in closer fellow-
ship and to set our faces with new determination to the
great task of winning the Near East to Jesus Christ.
These early churches burned once with the missionary
passion, again may that spirit of devotion to spread the
Gospel tidings to those who know not the love of God as
it is in Jesus Christ be fanned to flame. Then together let
us go forward to this most difficult of all the tasks which
confront the Church today, that of winning the Moslem
world to the Redeemer.
Smyrna, Asia Minor. S. RALPH HaRLOW.
THE ARAB MIND AND THE GOSPEL
The Arab has a religious mind, far more religious on
the average than has the American. To him there are no
secondary causes. It rains because God sends the rain,
and when drought devastates the country, and animals die
and men go hungry, it is because God withholds the rain.
This conception of the omnipotence of God, including
everything, directing everything, silent, inscrutable, and
overwhelming, is a magnificent thing. We of the West
may well study it, and learn from it.
Further, God is not simply omnipotent. He is imme-
diately present. He sees what is done, and His hand
shapes the circumstances of the day for good or for ill. It
is His favor that gives a speedy journey, and His will that
brings delays and annoyances. It is not a light profanity
that puts the name of God into the mouth of the Arab con-
tinually. To have, the name of God on his lips, and the
thought of God in his heart, is to the Arab a very great
virtue, and who is there who will call him mistaken?
Moreover it is a mistake to say that the Arab expects to
purchase an entrance into Heaven by means of his good
works. Good works are important, and the grade of his
reward is supposed to depend on them, but Salvation is
another matter. I once listened with great interest to a
sermonette by Bin Saoud, the religious and political head
of the ^'Ikhwan." Quoting some ancient authority to the
effect that the greater part of those entering Heaven enter
it because of their bad deeds, and the greater part of those
in hell suffer there because of their good deeds, he pro-
ceeded to explain. Good deeds are good things, but a man
habitually performing them usually falls a victim to pride
toward the end of his life, and on account of this pride he
goes to hell, whereas the man who has done bad deeds all
his life is likely toward its close to realize his wickedness,
225
226 THE MOSLEM WORLD
and repent, and humbly ask God for mercy, and because
of his humility he goes to Heaven.
The Arab has a religious mind, and there are beautiful
things in it, but any one who supposes that he is therefore
knocking eagerly at the door of the Kingdom of God is
vastly mistaken. An impenetrable wall of pride and self-
satisfaction seems to surround him on every side. The
Kingdom of God he cannot see, and he would not want it
if he could. Half of the appeal of his religion lies in the
pride and self-satisfaction it stimulates as he thinks of the
wretched infidels that constitute the rest of the world, and
rejoices in his infinite superiority over them. Their prop-
erty is his, and even their lives, if he is strong enough to
take them, and this spoliation is a righteous act of justice
because of their hard-hearted persistence in mistaken be-
liefs. This cruelty and pride increase with the fervency
of religious life, and the possibilities of such a develop-
ment quite surpass the imagination of an ordinary humane
and tolerant Westerner.
What is the reaction of such an individual to the Gos-
pel? Philosophically he regards it as blasphemous and
silly. So foolish indeed, that for any sane man, to state it
is to refute it. The idea that the great omnipotent God
incarnated Himself in human flesh, and suffered the dis-
grace and uncleanness of human birth; that he lived the
life of a common man on earth, and finally suffered the
death of a criminal at the hands of his enemies; all this is
too foolish to need refutation.
This Gospel too, is vague and nebulous in its demands.
Who ever heard of a religion whose devotees could eat
what they wished, and fast whenever they pleased, if in-
deed they cared to do so at all. A religion that allows a
man to pray whenever he feels like it, and in any place
where he may happen to be, is no religion at all. The
Arab wants to have the smallest detail of his religious
practice stipulated. He is told just how to pray and when,
and what is allowed and what is forbidden in food. He
THE ARAB MIND AND THE GOSPEL 227
rejects with some levity a religion which leaves all these
and a multitude of other important ceremonial matters to
the whim of the individual, as matters of no importance.
Bewildered by the vague and nebulous character of the
ceremonial demands of the Gospel, the Arab resents its
ethical demands. Its teachings as to the duties of a man to
his brother man he accepts only in his relations to fellow
believers. The unbelieving outside world is his legitimate
prey. Christ's teaching as to the relationship between
men and women he utterly repudiates. In the landscape
of the Arab's mind perhaps ninety per cent of everything
pleasurable lies in this territory. Monogamy with no di-
vorce he regards as reducing life to a level where it is
scarcely worth living. Nor does he regard the attitude of
heart that Christ exemplified as what he wants. Turning
the other cheek is not an easy doctrine for any part of the
world, and it is doubly hard in Arabia. The pride of
heart that Islam develops in its adherents is perhaps its
most astonishing achievement, and Christ's ideal of hu-
mility and self-sacrifice is rejected with scorn.
Thus it is that the Arab turns away from the Gospel,
partly in disgust, and partly in bewilderment, and partly
in sharp resentment. He turns away, that is, from its
spoken and written presentation. Incarnated in the lives
of men and women, however, he does not turn away. He
finds these infidel missionaries friendly people, whose sin-
cerity and helpfulness none can deny. The day may come
when the spoken and written word will be the chief means
of evangelizing the Arab. Now the one thing that reaches
his heart is acquaintance and friendship with Christians.
Medical and educational institutions both are effective
means of w^ork, but much more important than either is
simple acquaintance and association with the friendly
Christian missionary. The Arab responds very quickly
and very deeply to simple unaffected democratic friendli-
ness. Even the fanatical ^'Ikhwan" melt under that treat-
ment. They come in large numbers to the Christian doc-
228 THE MOSLEM WORLD
tor, and none are more friendly and appreciative, once
they become acquainted. Perhaps the most effective
means of presenting Christ of all is the visiting of the mis-
sionary women in the Arab homes. There seems to be no
Arab community so fanatical that such visits are not wel-
come, and especially in the early days of the occupation of
a new station it is probably the most important means that
we have of bringing the Arab into contact with Christ and
His teachings.
The above description of the mind of the Arab and its
reaction to the Gospel is more historical than actual in
some parts of Arabia. Along the coast and in the Meso-
potamian cities he is thinking new thoughts. It is a day of
scientific investigation, of universal criticism, and of
doubt, the world over. However imperfectly the actual
results of science and criticism may be understood, their
spirit has penetrated, with the result that old religious
sanctions have largely disappeared, and little or nothing
has taken their place. Hair-splitting arguments over
some point of Moslem theology no longer interest the
rising generation. Rather the question is whether there is
a God, whether there is any Divine revelation.
Associated with this, and often so emphasized as to
dominate the whole situation, is a growing nationalistic
aspiration, which seems to command all the attention and
the devotion that religion once did. It is useless for us to
urge that a separate national existence would be to no
one's advantage; that tutelage for a time by some of the
Western powers will be to the interest of every sort of
sound progress, and that the vast majority of the people
are still utterly illiterate and quite unready for self-gov-
ernment. The world over, the current is setting in one
direction, and the growth of national consciousness is one
of the most striking phenomena of recent times.
How do such men react to the Gospel message? It must
be admitted that they regard it as one more means for
their denationalization. Their own religion they defend
THE ARAB MIND AND THE GOSPEL 229
fanatically against all attacks, because they see in it per-
haps the strongest existing bond of national solidarity. It
is not our function to criticize their idea of religion thus
reduced to a mere political convenience. While they do
not know it, the question thus raised is a far more serious
one for us than it is for them. If we are presenting a
Gospel message that has as one of its effects the denation-
alization of the convert, and his transformation into a sort
of hybrid half Easterner and half Westerner, it is high
time that we corrected our message. The Church has
many difficult tasks before her, few of them perhaps more
difficult, and at the same time more important, than this
very one of dewesternizing the Gospel for Eastern peo-
ples. It is perhaps more a question of personal attitude
than of our message. The ardent nationalist ought to find
in the missionary his most sympathetic listener and ad-
viser. As a nation we have passed through many of the
same difficulties and discouragements that he faces. From
the vantage point of a sincere and appreciated sympathy
the missionary may even be able to give some valuable
advice as to the desirable speed in social transformations,
and the solidity of the foundations that are necessary, if
independent national existence is to be a blessing. In any
case the fear that the Christian Gospel is only one more
means of completing and making permanent the domina-
tion of the Westerner, would disappear.
Any survey of the mind of the Arab in its relation to
the Gospel is somewhat discouraging. It is important
to present the Gospel to the Arab in every way that we can
devise, and to present it freed from Western adulteration,
but the winning of Arabs to Christ depends on the work
of the Spirit of God, and it is to prayer perhaps even more
than to increased effort, that we should address ourselves,
in our desire to bring the glory and the honor of the Arab
into the City of God.
Bahrein, Arabia. PAUL W. HARRISON.
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM
Eclecticism has been a fairly frequent phenomenon in
the history both of Philosophy and of Religion. We can
almost regard it as an inevitable stage in the history of
every movement of thought which loses contact with the
vital impulse which gave it birth. In some cases it has
been due to the process of exhaustion; the thought move-
ment finding no further source of life and power in itself
seeks to supply the deficiency by drawing upon outside
sources. In other cases it is due to disconnection; the
movement, being cut off from contact with its own source
of life, seeks to fasten itself upon others. In either case
the stage of Eclecticism is only one stage from death.
Historically the most famous case of Eclecticism is that
in Greek philosophy, when after the waning of the post-
Aristotelian systems, such a movement appeared and
reigned till, after the final flicker of Neo-platonism, Greek
Philosophy went out in the dark night of Scholasticism.
In this case it was due to exhaustion. Three hundred
years of intense and abundantly fruitful thinking in
Greece, culminated in the system of Aristotle. That was
its maturity, and we can watch the life force declining
though the systems of subjectivism known as Stoicism,
Epicureanism, Scepticism, till in the Eclectic period we
find that the disputes of Academic and Peripatetic, Stoic
and Epicurean, Pyrrhonist and the leaders of the New
Academy, resulted in their agreements being made promi-
nent and their differences softened, and the reigning phi-
losophy became a patchwork of them all. '*As intellectual
vigour wanes," writes Stace,* ''there is always the tend-
ency to forget difTerences, to rest, as the Orientals do, in
the goodnatured and comfortable delusion that all re-
ligions and all philosophies really mean much the same
lA Critical History of Greek Philosophy, 1920, p. 369.
230
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 231
thing. Hence Eclecticism became characteristic of the
schools."
This spirit was greatly stimulated by the Romans, for
they had had no share in the real life that gave birth to
Greek Philosophy, and their practical nature made them
impatient of the subtle metaphysical distinctions of the
schools. We are told that the hard-headed pro-consul
Gellius was so assured that their trifling disputes could be
easily settled by a little tactful management, that, though
no philosopher himself, he urged the Athenian philoso-
phers to come to a -compromise, and offered to mediate
between them himself.
But even the compromises of the schools were insuffi-
cient to restore the decaying vitality of Greek philosophy,
and new life was sought by incorporating Oriental ele-
ments. The old religion of the Graeco-Roman world was
practically dead; the old philosophy had sought, in the
post-Aristotelian systems, to become a religion, but had
not succeeded, so a flood of Eastern cults was allowed to
flow in." The Egyptian faith of Isis; the Thraco-Phryg-
ian cult of Attis, of Sabazius, of Cybelle; the Persian
religion of Mithra, all had their following, and as Glover
says,^ "it was not merely Gods that came from the East,
but a new series of religious ideas They oriental-
ized every religion of the West and developed every su-
perstitious and romantic tendency. In the long run, they
brought philosophy to its knees, abasing it to be the apolo-
gist of everything they taught and did, and dignifying
themselves by giving a philosophic colouring to their
mysticism."^
That there was a new source of life here, Neo-platonism
is a witness, "^ but though it gave a brilliant flash in
Plotinus, and showed a dim glow in Proclus and Por-
2 See Erwin Rohde. Psyche, ii, 397.
zConiiict of Religions in the Roman Empire, p. 24-
4Kalthoff holds that these Oriental religious ideas were the vehicle of the socialistic and
communistic tendencies of the time. See his book Die Bntstehung des Christentums, 1904,
chap. ii.
r>Dean Inge, in his Philosophy of Plotinus protests against this, but the facts seem
against him. Even though the Philosophy of Plotinus may be a development of Platonism,
it gains its life from Oriental mysticism.
232 THE MOSLEM WORLD
phyry, it quickly died away in the astrology and magic
of lamblicus. This was necessarily so, for the future be-
longed to Christianity which had come with a new source
of life and power which the dying Paganism refused to
consider.
In Jewish thought we have a similar period of Eclecti-
cism, almost contemporary with that of Greek Philosophy,
and largely indebted thereto. The solitary figure repre-
senting it is the Alexandrian Jew, Philo. In the cosmo-
politan city of Alexandria, cut off from the old associa-
tions of Palestine, and in touch with the great movements
of Gentile thought, Judaism began to lose its distinctive-
ness and thereby its vitality, and Philo's attempt to infuse
energy was by an Eclecticism wherein he sought to blend
Plato and Moses, crude Hebrew theology and subtle
Greek metaphysics. The system was still-born.
We meet with the same phenomenon in Buddhism.
The origin of the two great Schools is wrapped in ob-
scurity, but it is perfectly clear that by the time the Indian
monk Padmasambhava migrated to Tibet in the reign of
Sron de Tsan, the Mahayana School had exhausted the
primitive force of the movement, and was living by the
incorporation of external religious forces. The Southern
School, the Hinayana, has kept fairly close to the agnostic
philosophy of the Buddha himself, and still preserves a
more or less moribund existence, but the flourishing school
is the Northern, which has been able to flourish because
it has drawn into its system numerous practices of primi-
tive animism, and borrowed largely from Hinduism, and
later from Christianity.^ So much is this so, that in mod-
ern Mahayana Buddhism it is often diflicult to find where
the peculiarly Buddhist elements are. Writing of the
Buddhism of Tibet, popularly known as Lamaism, Wad-
dell says,^ ^Trimitive Lamaism may therefore be defined
as a priestly mixture of Sivaite mysticism, magic and
«See WaddeU's Lamaism, or the Buddhism of Tibet, 1895. The Christian borrowings
were from Ncstorian Missions.
70p cit. p. 30, _ See also Grunwedel's Der Lamaismus in Kultur der Gegenwart I, iii,
1906, and Pozdnejev's Skizsen aus dcm laniaistischen Klosterleben in der Mongolei, 1887.
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 233
Indo-Tibetan demonolatry, overlaid by a thin varnish of
Mahayana Buddhism, and to the present day Lamaism
still retains this character." The same may be said of
popular Buddhism in China and Japan, and though there
has been a big infusion of Hinayana Buddhism, the same
holds good of it in modern Burma." It is obvious that this
eclectic stage is only one remove from the death of Budd-
hism altogether in the Northern School.
Early Gnosticism was an attempt at an eclectic move-
ment in Christianity, made by men who had realized the
epoch-making nature of the new faith but had not entered
into its spirit and knew nothing of its experiences.^ But
Gnosticism had a short history." 'The first attempt,"
says Windelband,"" 'Svhich the Gnostics made to create an
adequate view of the world for the new religion, pro-
ceeded from the excited phantasies of a Syrian mingling
of religions, and, in spite of the employment of Hellenistic
philosophemes, led to such grotesque constructions, that
the Church as it grew stronger and more definitive, was
obliged to reject them." The most striking eclectic move-
ment in Christian history, however, is the modern move-
ment called Theosophy, a weird conglomeration of Hin-
duism, Buddhism, Neo-platonism, Gnostic speculation,
magic and psychism, with a faint odour of Christianity
about the whole.^^
This movement was begun and is mostly carried on by
sFor interesting evidence of the composite nature of Burmese Buddhism see J. Jolly,
Recht und Sitte, p. 40 ff. in the Grundriss der indo-arisch(*,n Philologie und Altertums-
kunde
fSee H. Ritter, Histoire de la Philosophic Chretienne, vol. i, p. loi, (traduction de J.
Trullard). It is interesting that the traditional "father of all Gnostics" is Simon Ma^us,
vide, Dr. Salmon's article on him in Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. iv, p. 681 ff.
io"Docetism, with its phantom Christ, and Gnosticism with its antithesis of the just
God and the good God, were not likely to satisfy mankind. Simple people felt that these
things struck at their life, and they rejected them." Glover's Conflict of Religions, p. 263.
11 History of Philosophy, 1914, p 214.
I2ln this connection it is most interesting to read in Rene Guenon's recent book, Le
Theosophisme. Histoire d'une pseudo-Religion, 1921, p. 274 — "II nous parait hors de doute
que ces tendances soient le monopole exclusif du Protestantisme; mais c'est la qu'elles
que nous avons qualifiees de 'moralistes' portent le marque de I'esprit protestant, et plus
specialement, de I'esprit du Protestantisme anglo-saxon. Nous ne vonlons pas dire, certes,
que ces tendances soient le monopole exolusif du Protestantisme; mais c'est la qu'elles
sont preponderantes, et c'est de la qu'elles se sont repandues plus ou moins largement
dans la monde moderne. Du reste, nous trouvons encore une analogic entre le theosophisme
pt les courants actuels du Protestantisme (surtout le 'Protestantisme liberal,' qui en est la
forme extreme, et d'ailleurs I'aboutissement logique) dans ^ le fait de substitues une
religiosite vague a la religion proprement dite,_ en faisant predomines les elements senti-
mentaux sur I'intellectualite. zx\ point d'en arriver a eliminer celle-ci a peu pr^s entiere-
mcnt." Both chanters, xxvii "Le Moralisme Theosophiste" and xxviii "Theosophisme et
Protestantisme," should be consulted in this connection.
234 THE MOSLEM WORLD
people who had lost touch with Christianity as a personal
religious experience, and failing to find life in the external
forms, sought religious satisfaction in a gorgeous patch-
work of many faiths in which each adherent lays the em-
phasis where he will/^ How little of genuine Christian-
ity remains in it is evident from a perusal of Mrs. Besant's
"Esoteric Christianity," or Mr. Leadbeater's "The Chris-
tian Creed," and his recent articles in "The Theosophist."
The corresponding movement in Hinduism is the
Brahma Samaj, which Dr. Farquhar considers the most
influential of all the religious movements of the nineteenth
century.'* Its founder. Ram Mohan Ray, though a
Brahman by birth, was profoundly influenced by Sufiism,
and later by the Christian missionaries at Serampore, but
the fully eclectic nature of the movement is best seen in the
third and greater leader, Keshab Chandra Sen, whose
Service Book for Samaj meetings, the Slokasangraha, was
a collection of texts from Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Chris-
tian, Mohammedan and Chinese scriptures.'^ It was a
movement brought to birth by the conflict of East with
West in the realm of intellect, and still is an attempt of
educated Hindus to find relief from the impossibilities of
the faith of their childhood, but how little of Hinduism
there really is in it is evident from a perusal of S. Sastri's
"History of the Brahma Samaj,'*" and how little real re-
ligious spirit remains in it, is seen from the activities of its
present day champions.'^ But eclecticism is not only char-
acteristic of the Brahma Samaj, it is equally so of all the
modern reform movements which attempt to stay the
spiritual decay within Hinduism. We have only space
here to refer to the work of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa,
who taught that all religions were simply various paths
I'J Easily the best account in English of the Theosophical Society is that by Dr. J. N.
Farquhar in his Hartford-Lamson Lectures on Modern Religious Movements in India,
19 1 8, pp. 208-291, where inter alia, he shows that the teaching of Madame Blavatsky's
writings, said to have been revealed to her by Mahatmas in Tibet, is mostly plagiarized
from English and French writers.
MOp. cit, p. 29.
I. "i Farquhar, p. 46. See also W. Geden's Studies in the Religions of the East, 191 3, p.
417. The Slokasangraha was published in Calcutta in 1904 by K. G. Nath.
inTwo vols. Calcutta io'i-ioi2.
iTK.g Thakur Kahan Chandra Varnia, author of A New Discovery; Christ a Mvth,
1918.
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 235
leading to the same goal/^ Dr. Farquhar reproduces a
picture caused to be painted by him,'^ which has for back-
ground three buildings, a Christian Church, a Moham-
medan Mosque and a Hindu Temple, while in the fore-
ground we see Christ dancing with Chaitanya before a
group of religious devotees, Hindu, Moslem, Sikh,
Parsee, a Chinese Confucian and an Anglican Curate, and
to the left we find Ramakrishna himself pointing out the
group to Keshab Chandra Sen and explaining to him the
Unity of Religions.
When we turn to Islam, the question at once arises as to
whether Islam as a whole is not an eclectic system. Ar-
nold's words are well known — "Islam was born in the
desert, with Arab Sabeanism for its mother, and Judaism
for its father; its foster nurse was Eastern Christianity,"
and the investigations of European scholars since then
have only served to make this clearer. One rises from the
perusal of Geiger's '^Judaism and Islam,'"'' and St. Clair
Tisdall's "Original Sources of the Qur'an,'"' feeling the
full justice of Dr. Zwemer's conclusion, that Islam "is not
an invention, but a concoction; there is nothing novel
about it except the genius of Mohammed in mixing old
ingredients in a new panacea for human ills and forcing
it down by means of the sword. ""^
But was this a real eclecticism? It is undoubtedly true
that Mohammed carried over into his system numerous
beliefs and practices of the Pagan Arabs, e. g., the rever-
ence for the Black Stone and the ceremonies of the Pil-
grimage to Mecca. It is true also that for most of his
eschatology he was indebted to Sabaeanism and Zoroast-
I8ln a full account of this interesting Reformer, see Max Mullet's Ramakrishna, His
Life and Sayings, 1910.
i^ModeiM Religious Movements in India, p. 198.
2oRabbi Abraham Geiger's work Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume auf^enom-
menf, first a,ppeared as a Prize Essay at Bonn in 1833. It was translated by an English
lady and published under the title Judaism and Islam, by the S. P. C. K., Madras in 1898.
21 S. P. C. K. 191 1. An English edition, revised and enlarged, from a Persian work of
the author entitled, Yanabi' ul Islam (1900), but unfortunately not reproducing the texts
quoted in the original tongues, which were given in the Persian work.
22 Arabia the Cradle of Islam, 1912, p. 170. An Analytical Table of the borrowed ele-
ments of Islam is given on p, 178 of the same work.
2
236 THE MOSLEM WORLD
rianism^^ and that he borrowed many legends from the
Jewish Tahnod and Christian Apocryphal Gospels. We
may even go so far as to say that if we cut oat what he bor-
rowed from the "People of the Book" diere is little left of
Islam save its faults; but even so, was there not a great
original force in Islam which was independent of, diough
it made use of these elements? There can be no doubt that
this is SO- Whether we agree with Becker and Caetani,
that the life-force of the movement was political and eco-
nomic rather than religious, or with Macdonald agree that
it was d^nitely religious, there is no doubt that there was
a considerable living force there which was original and
not dependent on the elements taken up into it
It is not strange that this living force of Islam took up
elements from the religious life of its day. Christianity
did exactly the same thing. The man who takes up the
Gredk Gospels after a period of close and exclusive study
of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Rabbinical writings,
has no hesitation in declaring that Christianity is no mere
offshoot of Judaism. Here is an entirely new irruption of
religious life, and yet the amount of Jewish religious
thought taken up into it is obvious to the most casual
reader. Outside die New Testament, Greek influence is
as obvious in the formulation of the theology of the grow-
ing Church as Roman influence is on th& development of
its organization,** and it is Dr. Clements thesis in his
"Primitive Christianity and its non-Jewish Sources,*"*
ami Ike Jmm md Vmmnm 9mA fcfMcr Sank me
et Ike mwattittar w Jewitk, See aie» tmo mterem^
i fMUk mfeMwd m Der Idmm, erne kf IV, WcMwdk; **A
^wheim Igiitrr^^it 4e»JUMktm mU idamiftkem ritmdUm Ceket^ 'm ¥f,
&Ck0iSStktm km UtmrnT miL mm. *xm^ tie ftM kittery et Ubmmc rMkMd^gr kam
jtttmkewnuem.
t^rcknat wm kmm jmmI ike db* el ^m. mA Wart, iMtoriol Ckrmidamtj «• dbe
i t tf i mt el MMf mvMtmiiHB wJOtimltmn A mtnmn *, Uat m4 raeid^^ Wr em Ike Jew, I ke
7iigii«g urn Ike Gtjr M Ce>L F? Ike^mTlke
Owwdb AH mmt kme ikeif tmcuA iAieeimera^ee •r
et iktfmtki. The Jem cmk Pf Ike Mew
QteA, emem U keemtereA Ike Ckmnk Ikremt^ '
kie tkHmtjkyj «Mc Ike Mimm twmmm tA aS 'm termm
W a t f k m i mm, dms Hm Thim^ $0 the Kefenmetiem, t^tt* 9, *^
_ «„ t9%x, et JH, Ckmtetf* rihwfif KHiti»m §§e tdiidiai€lie BfiUSntms
Set Memem TeatememU, vp^, Oemtem ie eHern extreme, km mett m extreme m g i liwi ,
-mlkm mkleDe TheM^tkie m CkriatemSem em JmAemA^mt, tmtm, m»A emtter wmke^ etAe %m
Aerire CkneAm^STSmmike Otaglbt el ike Ale»mtArim9tke^ or ike wOAdtecriee el
M im km Die BmirJekmmm Ae» CkrUteetmmt em$ Ser mmOtem KmUttr, t^t; wkkk
emeeHike CkeJei Mftk hi wHt me ml Vrem^ SmiUk mtAJ.U. mtk uimm .
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 237
diat '^like the Israelitish and Jewish religion, whose influ-
ence is self-evident^ other religions have also left tfieir
mark on the oldest form of Christianity^ even when it felt
itself in the keenest antagonism to them/' It is no wonder
that Christianity should take over pagan festivals such as
Christmas and Easter^^ and Christianize them, or that it
should accept Greek thought and Roman organization
and adapt them to her ends, for as Dr. Angus says — ^**
"Qmsdanity brought a hamMny for tlie Inirdcnsmic antmomics of
diat age. RcT^ation coafiimcd die tnidi of natural rdigmn and reason,
and added somcduiig indispensable. Chri^iani^ was die sinidicsis of and
the audioritr for the tnidis prodairocd hj all ^rst!cm& It deirated die
abstract monodieisa] of Greece, the henodictstic monodwisni of oriental
cults, the dcistic monotheism of Judaism into a unhreisal spiritual Father-
hood ; it corrected abstract monodicsm bjr the trudi of poljrdieism diat
the Godhead is not simple and jejune, but has in itsdf a ridh and mani-
fold life; it Mended die immanence of pandieism with the transcendence
of scepticism, mysticism and Hebrew diou^t; it gloiilied die human
sympathy of Oriental cidts; dirou^ die histoiic life and deadi of a Man
of Sorrows."
Yet Christianity was not an eclecticism, for as Angus
immediately goes on to say — ^''Christianity gave what the
world most needed — the driving power of personality/'
and it was this spiritual driving power that took and used
the elements it found around it, thou^ it was ever free
and independent of them.
It is so in Islam. The original force, whether political
or religious, was the driving power of a personality; as it
happens, it expressed itself in terms of what it could draw
from its^ environment, but its source was not there, and
had they been absent it would have expressed itself in
other terms. In its origin it is not an eclecticism, in our
sense of that term.
But unlike that of Christianity, the driving power of
Islam has never been very enduring. Backed up by po-
litical or other aspirations, it has at various times spuited
forth anew and continued vigorously for a while, but as a
purely religious force it was soon spent Among Ac
Arabs themselves, with whom it had its birth, as a religion
23« THE MOSLEM WORLD
it exercised very little influence. Sir Richard Burton,
who knew the Bedouin well, writes — ""
"Mohammed and his followers conquered only the more civilized
Bedawin ; and there is even to this day little or no religion among the
wild people, except those on the coast or in the vicinity of cities. The
faith of the Badawi comes from Al-Islam, whose hold is weak. But his
customs and institutions, the growth of his climate, his nature and his
wants, are still those of his ancestors, cherished ere Meccah had sent
forth a Prophet, and likely to survive the day when every vestige of the
Ka'abah shall have disappeared."
And his testimony could be paralleled by that of others
who knew them as well, or even better, and from writers
on the state of Islam among non-Arab peoples. ^"^ As a
religion, even since the first outburst, Islam has had to
gain its renewal of strength by eclecticism. Only a few
examples of this are possible within the limits of this ar-
ticle, but they are important and typical.
Let us first take the Pythagoreans of Islam, ^^ the po-
litico-philosophico-religious body founded by Abdallah
ibn Maimun, and known in the tenth century as the Faith-
ful Brethren of Basra. This curious School was obviously
an attempt to find some real religious satisfaction which
was not to be found in orthodox Islam. Theirs was a re-
ligion of consolation and redemption in which they aimed
at the assimilation of the soul to God, so far as this is pos-
sible for man, and orthodox Islam could not, as ordinarily
interpreted, help them to this. Their object then, as de
Boer points out,"^ was to reach another interpretation —
"No doubt Christianity and the Zoroastrian faith appeared to the
Brethren to be more perfect religious revelations. *Our Prophet, Mo-
27Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah, Popular edition, 1919,
vol. II, p. 109.
23For instance on Chinese Mohammedanism Dr. Sell's judgment is "Islam has had its
day of opportunity in China and has failed" (Moslems in China, 1913. P- 10) and there
is abundant evidence in the works of Marshall Broomhall, Dabry de Thiersant, and
D'Ollone as to hov/ little, religiously, Islam means to them. As to Islam in India, the
witness of Moslems themselves who have been awalfened by Western culture is sufficient.
Many are the pamphlets in which they bewail the lack of religion among their fellow
Moslems and the low state to which they are reduced. See for example the testimony of
Ahmed Batcha, B. A. (Madras) in No. i of Ishait-i-Islam Tract Series.
29There are curious points of similarity between these Brethren and the Pythagoreans.
Bbth were religious associations with a strong leaning towards occultism. Both indulged
in political intrigues, and came to trouble thereby. Both formed a kind of monastic fra-
ternity with grades of progression. Both based their philosophy upon Natural Science,
the Brethren on the teaching of the Natural Philosophers and the Pythagoreans on Medi-
cine and Mathematics. Both laid claim to secret wisdom, and both made a compendium
of learning, and Encyclopedia.
30History of Philosophy in Islam, 1903, pp. 93-4. An English translation of T. J. de
Boer's Geschichte der Philosophic im Islam. 1901.^ See also his article "Moslem Philoso-
phy" in Hasting's 'Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics."
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 239
hammed,' they said, 'was sent to an uncivilized people, composed of
dwellers in the desert, who neither possessed a proper conception of the
beauty of this world, nor of the spiritual character of the world beyond.
The crude expressions of the Koran, which are adapted to the under-
standing of that people, must be understood in a spiritual sense by those
who are more cultured.' "
This new interpretation which should give them the
'^proper conception of the beauty of this world" and '^the
spiritual character of the world beyond," was necessarily
sought in other religions with which they were acquainted,
and resulted in an eclectic system. As de Boer says — ^'
"The Brethren themselves avow their eclecticism. They wish to col-
lect the wisdom of all nations and religions. Noah and Abraham,
Socrates and Plato, Zoroaster and Jesus, Mohammed and 'Ali are all
Prophets of theirs.' Socrates, and Jesus and his Apostles, no less than
the children of *Ali, are honoured as early martyrs of their rational
faith. '^^ The religious law in its literal sense is pronounced good for
the ordinary man, — a medicine for weak and ailing souls; the deeper
philosophic insight is for strong intelligences. Though the body is de-
voted to death, dying means arising again to the pure life of the Spirit,
for those who during their earthly existence have been awakened by
means of philosophic considerations out of careless slumber and foolish
sleep. This is impressed with endless repetition, by means of legends and
myths of later-Greek, Judaeo-Christian, Persian or Indian origin. Every
transitory thing is here turned into an emblem. On the ruins of positive
religion and unsophisticated opinion a spiritualistic philosophy is built up,
embracing all the knowledge and endeavour of human kind, so far as
these came within the Brethren's field of view."
Their ethical system too was eclectic. Like Aristotle,
they set up the picture of an Ideal Man, but instead of
being the expression of the result of a long philosophical
discussion on ethical principles, he was like Aaron Mat-
thew's ideal missionary, a composite figure whose features
were borrowed from the characteristics of various people.
"The ideal, and morally perfect man," they said, "should
be of East-Persian derivation, Arabic in faith, of Irak
(i.e. Babylonian) education, a Hebrew in astuteness, a
disciple of Christ in conduct, as pious as a Syrian monk,
3lOp. cit., pp. 84, 85.
32ln this respect there is a curious approximation of the views of the Brethren to those
of Comte in the formulation of his Positivist Religion. They shared also somewhat of his
critical attitude to the social life and organized religions of the time. Their name, how-
ever, does not necessarily imply any definitely organized Brotherhood such as we know
among the Pythagoreans, Goldziher has shown in his Muhammedanische Studien I, p. 9,
n. i. that the name Ikhwan as-Safa, or Brethren of Purity, according to Arabic idiom
means nothing more than that they were sincere or pure. See further his note "Uber
die Benennung der 'Ikhwan as-Safa,' " in Der Islam, Vol. I, p. 22 flf.
240 THE MOSLEM WORLD
a Greek in the individual sciences, an Indian in the inter-
pretation of all mysteries, but lastly and especially, a Sufi
in his whole spiritualistic life."^^ Necessarily such a sys-
tem held no promise of life, and though the teachings of
their Encyclopaedia are still canvassed, their religious
movement died with themselves.
Turning now to a better-known and more justly famous
movement, Sufiism, we find the same eclecticism. Its
origin, also, was in an intellectual reaction from the bar-
renness of Islamic orthodoxy, and a spiritual thirst which
was not there satisfied. ''From the earliest times," says
Macdonald, ''there has been an element in the Moslem
Church which was repelled equally by traditional teach-
ing and by intellectual reasoning. It felt that the essence
of religion lay elsewhere; that the seal and organ of re-
ligion was in the heart."^* Or as Hughes puts it in his
Dictionary of Islam, — ^"^
"Sufiism has arisen from the bosom of Mohammedanism as a vague
protest of the human soul, in its intense longing after a purer creed. On
certain tenets of the Koran the Sufis have erected their own system, pro-
fessing indeed to reverence its authority as a divine revelation, but in
reality substituting for it the oral voice of the Teacher, or the secret
dreams of the Mystic. Dissatisfied v^^ith the barren letter of the Koran,
Sufiism appeals to human consciousness, and from our nature's felt wants,
seeks to set before us nobler hopes than a gross Mohammedan Paradise
can fulfil."
The critical history of Sufiism has yet to be written.
When it is it w^ill settle for us the vexed question of its
origin, "° but whether it arose from a spontaneous up-
springing of esoteric life in Islam, or was a Persian reac-
tion against Arabism, or came from the Vedanta Philoso-
phy of India, or as the present writer is inclined to think,
was of Neo-platonic origin, ^^ there can be no doubt what-
33de Boer, op. cit., p. 95. _
34D. B. Macdonald's Religious Attitude and Life in Islam, 1909, p. 159. See also the
fourth Essay in Goldziher's Vorlesungcn fiber den f^lev, om
sr.Edition of 1896, p. 620, col. 2, quoting from E. B. Cowell's Oxford Bssavs for 1855.
3«See the discussion of the various theories of its origin as given in the first volume
of Browne's Literary History of Persia, 1902, Vol_ I, p. 416 ff.
•J70n this see particularly Dr. Nicholson's Article in J. R. A. S. for 1906, and later in
his Literary History of the Arabs, 1907. The older theory was in favour of an Indian
origin: so Hughes, op. cit., p. 609. says — "Sufiism is but a Moslem adaptation of the
Vedanta school of Hindu Philosophers." On the whole question of Sufiism, Gold/iher's
article, Materialiehi .tur Ent^vickelungsgeschichte des Sufismus, in the thirteenth volume of
Vienna Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 1899. is most important: likewise
Nicholson's Mystics of Islam, 1914.
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 241
ever that it has had to draw largely from non-Islamic
sources, finding its real life in them, and only giving the
whole system a colouring drawn from Islam. The Pan-
theism of the Sufi poets is not the rigid Monotheism of
Islam, it is Vedantic; the Sufi rapture of the Union of the
Lover with the Beloved, is not the orthodox relation of
Allah with His creature, it is the ecstatic rapture of
Plotinus and his school; and there are elements of the
Sufi teaching that seem traceable to survivals of the old
Zoroastrian creed. In such an eclectic system, it was not
wonderful that many adherents found it difficult not to
treat Sufiism as a system in contrast with Islam, and that
there should have been, as Gardner points out,"^^ a tend-
ency on the part of Moslem Sufis to break away from
formal Islam as soon as they had reached a certain stage in
their Sufi life." The source of life, that is, was non-
Islamic,^^ and when the cloak of Islam was no longer use-
ful, it was dropped.
This same non-Islamic character of Moslem mysticism
is seen in the religious orders of Islam, with their course of
mystical development, submission to the Master, ecstatic
practices, such as the Zikr, and pantheistic philosophy.
Another outstanding case of Eclecticism in Islam is in
the religion of the Bab, and its more modern form, Baha-
ism. Its origin also was a spiritual hunger, which could
find no satisfaction in Islam as taught by the orthodox.
"It betrays," says Canon Sell,*'' ''a longing for a real liv-
ing, loving, personal guide, the revealer of God to man,
which can best be met by the acceptance of the Eternal
Word." In its rise it was closely connected with the
mystical Imamate doctrine of the Shias,*' and with the
38W. R. W. Gardner's Al-Ghazali, 1919, p. 66. It is worthy of note that Ghazali's own
system was strongly eclectic.
ssThe Sufis themselves claim that their system was in the world before the Mission of
Mohammed, and an examination of its characteristics, shows it to be in harmony with the
mythical tradition which is common to all the world. See Underhill's Mysticism, 19 18,
pp. 114-115.
ioFaith of Islam, 4th edition, 1920, n. 20Q
tlThis doctrine of the Imamate itself, was almost certainly derived from a Greek source.
The whole question of "der hellenistische gottmensch und der imam-begriff der Shi'a,"
is._ dealt with by Tor Andrae in his work, Die Person Muhammeds in lehre und glanhen
seiner Gemeinde, Stockholm, iqi8.
242 THE MOSLEM WORLD
system of the Sufis. Thus from its very origin it was in-
fected with the eclectic spirit of Sufi mysticism, and in its
growth this has been intensified rather than diminished.
It is curious that from some source or other it has drawn
in a form of the quaint number mysticism of the Qab-
balah, particularly in connection with the number 19, the
number of chapters in the Bayan, and in the earlier form
made much of the doctrine of metempsychosis. The sys-
tem has drawn freely on the stores that have been gathered
by students of Comparative Religion, and in its later form
it has become so far eclectic as to claim to be to a Christian,
Christianity; to a Buddhist, the real teaching of Buddha;
to a Sufi, the final revelation of the mystic way and the.
ideal man; to a Moslem, the appearance of the Mahdi.
So far has this gone that Dr. Sell says: ^'It is not strictly
correct to call them a Moslem sect, for they practically
discard the Koran, and supersede Mohammed," thus fol-
lowing the tendency of all truly eclectic systems, and in
spite of some enthusiasm roused for the movement in
America and England,^" as a spiritual force today it has
practically exhausted itself.
The last of these eclectic movements in Islam that we
have space to mention, is the modern Indian sect of the
Ahmadiyyas, founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Khan in
1888, and now mainly championed by Khwajah Kamal-
ud-Din, the leader of the Ahmadiyya Mission to Eng-
land. The whole story of the movement has been written
by the late H. A. Walter,*^ we are only concerned here to
point out how truly eclectic it is. It is obvious at the out-
set that the origin of the Ahmadiyya movement was in the
need felt by intelligent Moslems, who had had their
minds opened to Western knowledge and felt the force of
Western criticism of Islam,** for some interpretation of
42Which in his last years even caught the Hebrew scholar T. K. Cheyne.
AZThe Ahmadiyya Movement. 1918. See also his article "Qadiani," in Hastings E. R. JE.,
Vol. x; the last study in Goldziher's Vorlesungen iiber den Islam, 1910, and Dr. Gris-
wold's Mirsa Ghulam Ahmad, 1902.
44Dr. Farquhar (Modern Religious Movements in India, p. 137) says it arose "largely
as a reaction from the striking success of a Christian Mission in the Central Punjab, and
from the fierce onslaught of Dyananda and bis Samaj."
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 243
Islam which should be more in accordance with modern
knowledge, and provide a religious satisfaction which was
not to be found in the Islam of the orthodox schools.
Ahmad himself had much contact with Christian mission-
aries during the formative years of his life, and Khwajah
Kamal-ud-Din, we are told, was educated in a mission col-
lege. Both, moreover, read widely in Comparative Re-
ligion, as witness the pages of The Review of Religions.*^
A reform of Islam being essential, and the Rationalistic
School of Aligarh*'' not finding favour, Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad revived the Mahdi idea, and claimed that he was
in himself the promised Mahdi, the descendant of the
Prophet and the last of the Imams, who should make
Islam prevail throughout the whole world. But as there
was little inspiration in this, he also claimed to be the
promised Messiah of the Jews and Christians, and later
on in life, in another attempt to gain strength, proclaimed
himself the latest avatar of Krishna. Since his death,
further claims have been made for him. Mr. Walter
quotes the following from a letter-head of Ahmadiyya
correspondence paper — *^
"Praised be Allah, the Almighty, the Gracious, the Merciful, one
worshipable God, Sustainer of all; who through his kindness raised a
Prophet in these days like unto the prophets of old days, viz. Ahinadj the
promised Messiah, the Mohammedan Mahdi, the Krishna, the latter day
Reformer of the Parsees, the Hope of all the nations of the day — Cham-
pion of Islam, Reformer of Christianity, Avatar of Hinduism, Buddha
of East, — blessed are they who believe in him, and take shelter under his
peaceful banner."
But not only is there a synthesis of religions on the per-
son of Ahmad, there is one also in the beliefs held by his
followers and taught by himself. For example, his con-
ception of the Mahdi is composite. The orthodox ex-
pectation of the Mahdi is that he is to be a man of blood,
who w^ill lead the last great jihad against the Unbeliev-
450rthodox Hinduism, the Arya Samaj, the Brahma Samaj, and Theosophy; vSikhism,
Buddhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism, Bahaism, Christian Science and Christianity have
all received attention, as well as Islam in all its ramifications, both ancient and modern,
such as Shi'ites, Ahl-i-Hadis. Kharijites, Sufis, and such renresentative exponents of
modern tendencies as Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Syed Amir Ali." Walter, op. cit. p. 17.
46That of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, and Syed Amir Ali.
ilTlie Ahmadiya Movement, pp. 51-52.
244 THE MOSLEM WORLD
ers/* But Ahmad was a man of peace, and while retain-
ing the conception of the Mahdi as the leader of a great
Islamic Crusade, he tried to combine it with the preach-
ing of peace which was characteristic of the preaching
of Jesus. It is true that he claimed to be uncompromis-
ingly orthodox, but as one reads the pages of his journal
and pamphlets,^" it is abundantly evident that his interpre-
tations, and particularly his eschatology, is shot through
and through with Sufi and Christian influences.'''^
The same is true of the writings of his followers. The
most famous of the English converts of the Ahmadiyya
movement is Lord Headley. In 1915 he produced a lit-
tle book entitled ^'A Western Awakening to Islam,""'
which is such a weird mixture of Christianity and Islam
that one wonders what would be the answer of an ortho-
dox Doctor of the Faith, if it were presented to him as an
exposition of Islam.
This unorthodox eclecticism is very evident too in their
new English version of the Koran with Commentary,"
and of the waitings and speeches of the present main
pillar, Khwajah Kamal-ud-Din. During his recent visit
to Madras he is reported to have said in the course of a
lecture, —
"The Hindus and the Mohammedans could easily come together in a
bond of union if they recognized each other's prophets. There was no
harm for Mohammedans in considering the Hindu prophets as their
prophets, and vice versa He would ask them whether it would not
be possible to create a sort of league, the very first declaration of which
would be that the signatory would accept Moses, Jesus, Ramachandra,
Krishna, Buddha and Mohammed as the true prophets and messengers
of God, would accept all the great books of religion as books of God,
that the Koran was the final revelation of the Divine will, and that he
would refrain from speaking ill of other religions."^^
48Thi8 character has been fully sustained by most modern pretenders to Mahdiship.
See Darmsteter's Lc Mahdi depuis I'origine de I' I slam jusqu'd nos jours, 1885.
*'JThe Review of Religions, and particularly his pamphlet, The Teachings of Islam,
1910.
5oMr. Walter gives numerous illustrative quotations in chaptCi- III of his work above
mentioned.
«i London, J. S. Phillips. On reading it through one does not know whether to wondef
most at the author's ignorance of Islam, or his ignorance of Christianity.
92ln the fourth edition of his Faith of Islam (1920) Canon Sell refers to this Com-
mentary as "remarkable chiefly by its lack of sound scholarship, its divergence from
accepted Moslem beliefs, its ignorant dogmatism, and bitter hatred of Christianity."
I^. 226.
BSSee report in Moslem World, XI. pp. 87-8S.
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 245
Yet a further interesting proof of the need Islam has
found all through its history of drawing in outside
sources for the religious inspiration and life which it
failed to find in itself, is found in the study of some of the
minor offshoots of Islam. For example, the creed of
those interesting and little-known people, the Yezidis, the
devil worshipers of Islam, is a fully fledged syncretism.
Dr. Isya Joseph writes of them, —
"In the early history of the sect. . . .many Christians, Persians and
Moslems united with it ; and that large survivals or absorptions of pagan
beliefs or customs are to be found in modern Yezidism. In other w^ords,
the actual religion of the Yezidis is syncretism, in which it is easy to
recognize Yezidi, Christian, Moslem (especially Sufistic) and pagan
elements."^*
The same is true of the various branches of the Isma-
ilians. For instance the doctrine of the Shungnani Isma-
ilians, who dwell in the Russian and Bokharian provinces
of Turkestan, is described by Semonoff in an article in
Part IV of the first volume of ^'Mir Islama," as a curious
mixture of Islam, Christianity and ideas of metem-
psychosis probably derived from Buddhist sources.
Among them it is noticeable that while the form of re-
ligion is Mohammedan, the driving force is the metemp-
sychosis belief. Not only so, but the whole larger move-
ment of the Ismailians was profoundly influenced by
Greek philosophy,"' w^hich lay at the root of its mission-
ary zeal, and very much like the modern Ahmadiyya
movement they were prepared to adopt any religious
ideas and take on the colouring of any religious environ-
ment in order to accomplish their ends. As Arnold con-
fesses, —
ti'iDevil Worship. 1919. See also J. Menant, Les Yeridis. Les Adorateurs du Diable,
1892.
5oDe Lacy writes in his recent work Arabic Thought and its Place in History, 1022,
p. 169. — "From first to last, the whole of the Isma'ilian movement was connected with the
intellectual revival due to the reproduction of Greek philosophy in Arabic form, less so,
of course, when the Isma'ilian converts were drawn from the illiterate classes, as was the
case with the Qarmatians, and when the attention of the members was engrossed with
political ambitions, as was the case with the Fatimids whilst they were building up their
power in Africa before the invasion of Egypt. But even under the most unfavourable
conditions it seems that the da'is or missionares regarded the spread of science and
philosophy as a leading part of their duties, quite as much so as the preaching of the
Alid Claims of the Fatimite Khalif." See similar testimony in Goldziher's Vorlesungevt
iiber den Islam, 191 o. p. 248.
246 THE MOSLEM WORLD
**They captivated the ignorant multitude by the performance of mar-
vels that were taken for miracles, and by mysterious utterances that ex-
cited their curiosity. To the devout they appeared as models of virtue
and religious zeal; to the mystics they revealed the hidden meaning of
popular teachings, and initiated them into various grades of occultism
according to their capacity. Taking advantage of the eager looking-
forward to a deliverance that was common to so many faiths of the time,
they declared to the Musulmans the approaching advent of the Imam
Mahdi, to the Jews that of the Messiah, and to the Christians that of the
Comforter, but taught that the aspirations of each could alone be realized
in the coming of 'Ali as the great deliverer.* "^^
Further testimony to the same effect could be supplied
in abundance if necessary, but the evidence gathered
above is sufficient to demonstrate that even though in its
origin and early growth Islam had an original life-force
of its own, that life-force was not sufficient to carry it very
far, without the incorporation of new sources of life from
outside. Wherever Islam has gone as a conquering force,
it has soon exhausted its original store of religious energy
and life force, as the spiritual and intellectual conditions
of Moslem lands in all periods of history bear witness.
All its revivals of life and movements of missionary zeal
have been due to the drawing in of fresh sources of life,"
and this naturally suggests the question of the ultimate
end of the process. One fact is certain, and that is that it
must ultimately result in the passing away of Islam as
Islam. As a spiritual life Islam is no longer able to vivify
the body of the Mohammedan world, and the forces
which do vivify it must inevitably change its character
into their likeness. And therein lies the great hope of
Christian missions among Moslems. In recent eclectic
movements in Islam, Christian thinking has had a very
strong influence, ''^ and if Christian missions in Moslem
lands can increasingly leaven the thinking of the people,
aaThe Preaching of Islam, 2nd edition, 1913. PP- 2". 212. Further down on the same
page he says — "Similarly the Isma'ilian missionaries who made their way into India en-
deavoured to make their doctrines acceptable to the Hindus, by representing 'Ali as the
promised tenth Avatar of Vishnu, who was to come from the West. i. e., (they asserted)
from Alamut. They also wrote a Mahdi Purana and composed hymns in imitation of
those of the Vamacarins or left-hand Saktas, whose mysticism already predisposed their
minds to the acceptance of the esoteric doctrines of the Isma'ilians. His reference is
to Khaja Vrittant by Sachedina Nanjicni. iSg-*. p'v i-i-S
BTThis is interestingly brought out by Dr, T. W. Arnold in his Preaching of Islam in
an incidental manner, though his book is 1 at her in thi- nature of an apology for Islam.
SiParticularly in Bahaism and the Ahmadiyya Movement.
ECLECTICISM IN ISLAM 247
particularly the more educated people, with Christian
ideals and the Christian spirit, then inevitably the life-
force of Christianity working among them must trans-
form them into its image. It does not follow from this
that the Moslem world will bodily enter the fold of or-
ganized Christianity as we know it in our Western
Churches; the more natural result would be that inside
the Moslem world there should grow up a Christian
Church, expressing its spiritual life in forms which may
differ widely from those known in our organized Church
life,°^ but be none the less a genuine interpretation of the
^4ife more abundant" which comes to men in and through
our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.
Cairo, Egypt. ARTHUR JeFFERY.
59As is apparently happening in India in the case of Sadhu Sundar Singh and the
Secret Sannyasi Movement.
COMMUNITY LIFE AND CEREMONIES OF
THE PEASANT TURK
The ears of the nations are still disturbed by the sounds
of war from Asia Minor, where the Turk and the Greek
continue to clash in battle. This terrible struggle in
which centuries of hatred and religious fanaticism lie be-
hind the war of modern guns and the steel of bayonet
charges, has been brought on largely because the selfish
policy which Europe has sustained in her attitude toward
the peoples of the Near East continues to be a predominat-
ing factor in the situation.
Behind the Turkish line lie countless villages, drained
of their manhood by twelve years of continuous war,
while Greece has been under arms since 19 12.
It is not war alone that makes the life of the Turkish
peasant hard and uninteresting. Life in the average
Turkish village is built up of days of ceaseless monotony,
the corner stones of which are ignorance and poverty.
The low-lying mud dwellings, the filthy streets, devoid
of trees, and with the sewerage system exposed to view in
the centre of the narrow thoroughfare, barking dogs, and
only the thin, white spire of a dilapidated mosque to break
the wearisome sky line, form the background for the
peasant's life. Many Turkish villages have the advantage
of being located on naturally beautiful sites, often sur-
rounded by snow-clad mountains or rolling hills.
Although more than a million dollars in "road taxes"
were collected from the peasants yearly before the war,
the roads are invariably wretched, and in the mud of
winter or early spring almost impassable. Bridges arc
often in a decadent condition, and the whole country
reflects an elemental conception of what country and
village life ought to be.
248
LIFE OF THE PEASANT TURK 249
Social life can hardly be said to exist in a Moslem
peasant community. The exclusion of the women, the
profound mental ignorance of the community, the lack
of playgrounds or parks of any kind, destitute of libraries,
music halls, clubs or even the moving picture shov^ which
has invaded the community life of most lands, all of this
poverty of social centers is universal wherever Turkish
rule extends and Moslem social customs prevail.
The passing through an interior village of a stranger,
more especially if he be a foreigner, the visit of a brigand
band upon some wealthy neighbor, the weekly market day
in the larger town, a wedding or a funeral, a birth or a
death, these remain the chief sources of distraction from
the monotonous daily routine.
Guests are almost universally welcome in the peasant
village. If there is no village khann with its oda or guest
room, then the chief man of the place generally has an
oda in his home in which strangers are welcome. Your
arrival in such a village will attract around you the great-
er part of the male population, while their women-folk
peer out from behind lattice windows or standing far off
pull their veils aside for a moment's gaze at the foreigner.
The Turk is very sparse in his words, and long periods
of silence are very customary. After depositing your
bedding in the oda, taking care to place your rain-coat
under it as a protection against flees and other vermin,
which hold high carnival in houses of this land, the men
of the village will file in and sit silently in a circle. Cof-
fee is soon brought, and a question or two asked. But the
burden of stirring up conversation rests upon your tongue.
In the remotest town of Anatolia the idea that a stranger
is a guest, and must be treated as such, is held by most of
the people, savage or semi-civilized.
I recall one trying incident in a large peasant town
where the feeling against Christians was particularly
strong at the time, for the army of the Sultan had been
thrown back in utter confusion from Kirk Killisse, and
250 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the Bulgarian guns were thundering at the gates of Con-
stantinople. My wife and I were taking a walk with the
Armenian pastor of the little Protestant community,
when we were attacked by a group of a dozen village
boys and girls who hurled stones at us and called out the
vilest names, with the continually repeated ''Giours" —
'^infidels," which was applied by Mohammed to idolaters,
but is now applied universally throughout Islam to all
non-Moslems. Our Armenian friend turned and walked
towards the children, who stopped in curiosity to see what
he would do or say. He was a grey-headed man of noble
bearing, who for twenty-five years had walked their
streets and rendered aid to many a Moslem. He asked
the children if it was not a custom of their race to treat
guests kindly, was it not even the custom to offer them
coffee and sweets, would they not do that for us should
we enter their homes; to all of these questions these little
street urchins gave their assent. Then he turned upon
them with a scorn touched with a humor beyond their
comprehension as he pointed out that we were strangers
from America, guests of their city; what impiression
would we carry away with us? '^Shame on you, shame
on you," he cried, "you have disgraced your noble race,
you have broken your customs." With marked signs of
shame the boys dropped the stones and slunk away down
the hillside, remarking, ''Dourou dir,'' 'Tt is true."
Sir William Ramsay gives us an interesting description
of his reception in an Anatolian village. In his ''Impres-
sions of Turkey" he writes,
"I happened once, to come to a village late in the afternoon, after a
fatiguing and disappointing day. I was making an experimental journey,
accompanied by a single Turkish servant, and a led horse to carry our
belongings. The experiment was an utter failure. Being in a dull and
languid humour, I was disinclined for the strain of talking to and
amusing the usual assemblage of gazers at the oda; and thought the
procedure might be profitably varied by trying how long they would
remain silent. Except for a few words and questions on the part of
my man, Murad, when he wanted water, chopped straw for the horses,
and our other simple requirements, no one spoke. I worked languidly at
my route survey. Murad was even more sick of this one-horse style of
LIFE OF THE PEASANT TURK 251
travelling than I was, and was probably affected by my dulness, for in
general he was good company. He looked after the horses, cooked our
dinner of bulgur-pilajfj of which I ate a little, while the circle gazed and
meditated.
Muckle we looked, and muckle we thoct,
But word we ne'er spak' nane.
"Then Murad got out my blankets, and found in the oda a very old
and thin mattress, which served to keep the hard floor from my bones,
while a waterproof spread over it prevented its inhabitants from reach-
ing my skin. It was now about three hours since we entered the village,
and about two and a half since any one had spoken. I made my prepa-
rations for the night, disrobed myself, performed my simple ablutions,
and got in between my blankets. Everybody gazed, and admired, and
wondered what should come next. A lighted lamp hung from the roof.
I sat up and blew it out. Then, at last the leading magnate of the
village remarked, 'Shimdi gidelini' (Now let us go). Thus they left
me alone. I think they were a little chilled and depressed, for, next
morning, hardly one came to see us at breakfast.
''At another time returning to camp after being detained from it by
distance the preceding night, I was seized with fever, when there was
still two hours' journey before us. As we were near a village we went
into it, and as the oda was not fit to use, from some cause or other, I
lay down on the shady side of a wall, while my servant put up my horse,
and then rode off to camp with orders to bring me a kettle, some tea
and some quinine. I waited alone; a score of villagers came and sat
round in a semi-circle; I doubt if any of us moved a muscle till the
medicines arrived, two or three hours later." (C. 23)
The life of the Christian villager is broken into con-
tinuously by feasts and saints' days, at which there. is often
folk-dancing and a general good time. There is little of
this folk-dancing among the Turks. At weddings the
men sometimes dance something similar to the highland
fling, and the women dance individually and in pairs, but
never in the presence of the opposite sex.
At times the village men will gather around a fire in
the evening, and there will be singing and dancing of
folk-lore style. Miss De Bunsen gives a most interesting
account of such an experience. She writes :
"Round the great fire on the shore the whole village is gathered, men,
boys, and children squatting on the ground in a circle, and huddled in
the-ir sheepskins; for the air is chill. We joined the circle too, a quiet
and sober one. There is always a hush before the dance. At length the
sheikh rises, signs to the zaptieh to join him, and together, hand in
hand, they begin slowly a stately, simple dance, advancing to the fire
and retiring beyond the circle again. One by one the rest of the com-
pany arises and join him, Hassan and we, too, take our part. Two long
lines are formed ; and the dance becomes more rapid. The sheikh begins
3
252 THE MOSLEM WORLD
to shout at stated moments; and then they all join in a conventional
chant marked by loud war cries and shouts of ' Mashallah,' at intervals.
Excitement is gradually worked up, the leaders flourish their crooked
swords, the step changes to a more complicated reel, the lines lurch
forward, groaning and hissing at the end of each short figure. Finally
it becomes a wild career, frantic and fast, war-cries and yells of battle
rend the air, the children drop out. It is a scene of wildest frenzy. The
dark figures in the long white shirts, their knives gleaming, some with a
sheepskin still clinging to their arms, the sword brandished in the air,
their black hair tossing on their shoulders, the yells and the shouts, and
the leaps in the strong firelight — a scene never to be forgotten. At the
pitch of the excitement, I feel Hassan's hand on my arm. He has dropped
out of his place, and he bids me sit down. 'Yetir, yetir. Pasha
('Enough, enough'), I hear his voice behind me; and in a moment a
dozen men are raking up the fire and heaping up a comfortable litter
of sheepskins to rest upon. One puts his own cloak round my shoulders,
and we all squat down together. Then, soon the silence comes back.
These men are never noisy for long together." (K-i 17)
The Turks have two religious bairams, or feasts. The
kuchuck bairam or little feast, which is also known as the
sheker bairam or feast of sweets on account of the cus-
tom of making presents of sweetmeats at that time, is the
festival on the breaking of the long month of fast — the
month of Ramazan. This bairam lasts three days, and
is a time of great merriment for the Moslems in the vil-
lage. The children all wear their best clothes and are
taken riding by their fathers.
The buyouk bairam is also known as the feast of
Courban, or Sacrifice, and lasts four days. This bairam
is very similar to the Jewish passover feast. For days
previously brightly tinted lambs are sold in the streets of
the cities and villages, and poor indeed is the peasant
whose children has no lamb. On the first day of the bai-
ram the lamb is killed as a sacrifice for sin, the village
imam performing the ceremony and the family eating
the lamb after it has been killed. The members of the
family are supposed to wear new clothes at this bairam,
and the children parade the streets in their new attire.
Turkish villages are devoid of playgrounds, and it is
only during the past few years that any athletic sports
were seen in them. The American schools have intro-
duced association football, and it has become very popu-
LIFE OF THE PEASANT TURK 253
lar wherever it has gone. 1 have watched a crowd of
Turkish boys in an interior town kicking a ball up and
down a field outside the village and was told that they
spent whole afternoons at this sport. The game had
been introduced by one of the village boys coming to our
college and learning the game. He had taken a foot-
ball back with him and initiated a few of the boys into
the rudiments of the game.
Wrestling and quoit throwing are popular among the
peasants, but organized athletics would do much for the
youth of this land; a land whose climate is wonderfully
adapted to outdoor sports.
Just as the hammam or bath is the social center for the
women of the village, so the coffeehouse is the men's club.
Only the smallest and poorest villages have no coflfee-
houses. The coffeehouse is to the villager of Anatolia
what the post office was to the New England farmer be-
fore the Rural Free Delivery system was put into opera-
tion. The men assemble in the coffeehouse to learn the
news of some learned man of the village who is able to
read the week-old newspaper from the capital. In the
absence of exact information with reference to current
events, the wildest theories are started, discussed and cir-
culated. Hither, also, come story-tellers, and hours are
passed in the excitement of such games as dominoes and
backgammon. There is little gambling among the Turks,
it being forbidden by their religion.
The business of the peasant Turk consists in doing as
little work as possible, and letting his wife do as much of
that as he is able to get out of her. Before the war all the
skilled labour in Turkey was in Christian hands. Even
the houses in which the better class live were built by
Christians. The village fountain, and all the more ma-
jestic of the mosques and public buildings are the prod-
ucts of Christian workmanship.
Practically all the trade of Asia Minor, especially the
carrying and retail trade, has been in Christian hands.
254 THE MOSLEM WORLD
The Turks of the peasant type are mule drivers, camel
drivers, porters, hewers of wood and drawers of water,
cultivators of the soil. The great bulk of them are farm-
ers. Formerly every village had its own common, where
the villagers could pasture their cattle and a forest where
they could cut wood. Or, where this land was large
enough, they rented part of it. The nomadic shepherds
and herdsmen were the ones to whom the lands were
rented as a rule, but with the introduction of the vilayet
system this method of renting land has changed.
The forests and public lands were taken over by the
central government, and though laws good enough for
themselves were enacted for the administration of this
land for the peasants, the injustice and abuse of office,
with which the whole Turkish officialdom has been honey-
combed, have proved very bad for the rural populations.
Tithe and tax collectors have kept them in continual ser-
vitude to poverty. The taxes on agricultural produce are
so heavy in themselves, and so iniquitously increased by
local extortioners, that often the farmer leaves part of his
ground uncultivated. The small agriculturist is un-
doubtedly the heaviest taxed individual in the world.
Let me illustrate what a peasant villager has often had
to pay taxes on to get an egg to market. He must pay, of
course, tax on his land, he must often pay a tax on each
hen, on the food he feeds his hen, on the cart he carries
his eggs in, on his horse or mule if he has one, for in war
times the government has undoubtedly seized it, and given
him a worthless piece of paper in exchange, and, lastly, he
must pay a tax on every egg and everything else he takes
into the city. He must pay a road tax every year, which
is not used on the roads, and at times he must pay a 'iocust
tax," which will never be used to fight locusts with. Gen-
erally he can get out of paying very much in some of these
cases by paying a bribe to the collector who makes out the
rate of his tax. I know of two cases, near our campus,
where ^the imount of bribe paid was Jirger than the
LIFE OF THE PEASANT TURK 255
amount of the rightful tax, but the payers were powerless
before the exactor. Taxation is not on the basis of what
the peasant is able to pay justly, and how much he ought
to pay for what he gets out of his taxes, it is merely on the
basis of how much can be squeezed out of him.
I have been speaking of the so-called ^'free villages,"
where every peasant farmer is supposed to '^own" his little
farm under the tender care of the government's super-
vision. But thousands of peasants live in yeradji villages
where the land is owned by some rich proprietor, who is
absent most of the time. The landlord pays for the seeci
corn when the land is first cultivated, but the peasant must
find his own plough, his own oxen and everything else
necessary for the harvesting of the corn. He must also do
the work. At the end of the season he must lay aside
enough seed for the next year, deduct the tithe for the
owner, and more for the government, and if there is any
left, why, maybe he can have that if there is no war going
on, when he is likely to have it all confiscated. Where
might makes right as it does here in Turkey, or let us
hopefully add, has in the past, many troubles beset the
path of the yeradji peasant. For example, when he has
cut his harvest, he cannot put it in the barn till the tithe
collector of the government chooses to come and inspect
the crop and determine the government's share. If bad
weather threatens, a bribe may hasten the inspection.
Moreover, the government chooses its tithe from the fat
ears, as does the landlord's representative, leaving the lean
to the peasant. For every head of cattle the peasant owns,
the town bailiff must receive a certain amount of wheat
and barley. Not infrequently soldiers and police are
quartered in the peasant's home, and must be fed w^ithout
charge, while if he cannot pay his '^road tax," he is
dragged off for several weeks each year to work on the
roads, though the tax is preferred by the officials.
Military service visits upon the argicultural village a
heavy blow, and during such times as these, through
256 THE MOSLEM WORLD
which we are now passing, the farms are stripped of all
their able-bodied men from 19 to 50 years of age.
The Agrarian Bank which was founded in 1889, and
has its headquarters in Constantinople, with branches in
the chief towns of the agricultural districts, would help
the farmers a great deal if its money were rightfully ap-
propriated. But wherever the government chooses it di-
rects the money Into other channels. Abdul Hamid dipped
his greedy hand into this bank, as he did into all pub-
lic money, and took more than half this Bank's income
for his own personal use. But since its origin this Bank
has made advances to nearly two million peasant farmers
and to the amount of twelve millions of pounds, of which
seven and a half millions have been repaid. The Bank
loans money to cultivators only for a term of three months
to a year, when the capital and interest are repayable
when due, or the whole sum repayable by installments
annually from one to fifteen years. The borrowers give
mortgages on their farms as security, or find guarantees
for repayment. These figures include both Moslem and
Christian peasants, for it was impossible to get statistics
of each class, though it is well to add that by far the great-
er percentage of those who take advantage of this method
of lifting themselves in the social scale are Christians.
The Moslem farmer is content if he gets enough to sub-
sist on, and to subsist on in the same way that his father
and grandfather lived.
Each district has a market day, held in the largest
towns, to which the villagers go with their donkeys laden
with the products of their farms and hands. A Turkish
market place on market day is a strange and interesting
mixture of color, movement, sound and smell. As there
are no stores in the peasant village, the villager goes to
market to make his weekly purchases, as well as to sell
his stock.
Carpet making is an industry which has given employ-
ment to as many as 40,000 in Turkey. Thousands of these
LIFE OF THE PEASANT TURK 257
are peasant Turks, but the work is carried on in the houses
rather than in the factories, industry in factories having
been killed and held back by the stupidity and ignorance
of the government. Sir Humphrey Layard says that in
political economy the Turks are like children. But for
their laziness many of the peasants could make fair wages.
The Oriental Carpet Company has established branches
all over Anatolia and gives out work to the villagers. I
have visited in the homes of two of the managers of in-
terior branches of this Company. The stories they told
were identical. The Company gave a loom and pattern
and all the material to the family for making a rug, and
paid them by the yard. An industrious family could
easily finish a good sized rug in less than a year, whereas
most of the peasants took five years to finish a rug. They
would finish a fourth of a rug, receive their pay for that
much work, and then loaf till hunger and need set them
to work again.
The silk industry is carried on in much the same way
as the rug industry, and in Broussa, the head of the largest
silk industry in Turkey, they told me the same story. The
peasants would work for a while, and then loaf till the
money was used up. It is not that the village peasant
Turk is not a hard worker, for he is capable of splendid
work, but the heavy taxation, the general low moral
standards, the contempt for improvement, the ignorance
and the generally accepted spirit of kismet has sapped the
energy and initiative out of the vast majority of the peas-
ant class.
Government of the Village.
The government of the peasant village is very simple
and yet in the large town takes on magnificent importance
in the eyes of the officials. The head man in the village
is known as the Khodja bashi, and he settles petty disputes,
and is responsible to the authorities higher up for the
good behaviour of his village. When strangers come to
25« THE MOSLEM WORLD
the village, he assumes the duties of host, if the village
cannot boast an inn.
Whenever officials or soldiers are in the town he
must see that they are quartered.
The imam of the village is the religious leader, and is
generally the best, if not the only educated person in the
community, having probably received his education in
the medresseh, a sort of theological seminary. He prob-
ably has no idea that America is larger than Anatolia,
and that San Francisco is a city and not a country or state.
It is he who climbs the minaret five times a day to sound
abroad the call to prayer, while he is essential in marriage
and funeral ceremonies.
In the larger towns the Khodja has hi forms the center
of a little group of notables. Since the constitution —
when ^4iberty, equality, justice and fraternity" were made
the bulwarks of the State, these little groups have been
largely made up of young men, while in the past only old
men belonged among the notables. Each town has its
clooh as it is pronounced. On a visit to the interior I vis-
ited one of these ^'cloohs". There the town fathers gath-
ered, the great man with his frock coat seated furthest
from the door, and the minor officials seated according to
rank — the imam next to the Khodja bashi, the head of the
town police next, down to the janitor of the clooh who
squats next to the door, glad to be permitted even this low-
ly place in the charmed circle. Here the problems of the
universe are thrashed out and settled, not once but many
times.
Brigands.
Possibly the most romantic phase of peasant life in
Anatolia has to do with brigands. For the peasant the
brigand is what Robin Hood was to the villagers of Eng-
land centuries ago. With them the peasant has shared a
common hatred of the local government officials and tax
collectors, the rich land owners and the military. As a
LIFE OF THE PEASANT TURK 259
rule the brigands are very kind to all peasants who are
friendly.
During the past twenty years the most famous brigand
of Anatolia has been Chuckagee, whose headquarters were
in the mountains above Eodemish, and who had gathered
around him a large band of kindred spirits of which he
was the head and. chief. Chuckagee was adored by the
peasants, but was the terror of the wealthy official class.
He would ride into a village with his men, demand food
of the peasants, and often leave ten times the price of the
food in gold. For several summers a number of our
American missionaries in Smyrna went to Boz Dagh, one
of the mountain towns near Chuckagee's headquarters.
Each summer the famous brigand made several visits to
the Americans with whom he was always on terms of
friendship. He was kind to the children, and very courte-
ous, but he would never permit any camera around while
he was present, and he and his men were always fully
armed. At one time he gave a great feast and invited the
missionaries to be present. Lambs were roasted whole on
huge spits, and everything was carried out on a large scale.
One summer the government officials of Smyrna sent word
to the missionaries, that it was not safe for them to go to
Boz Dagh that summer, as Chuckagee and his band were
in bad spirit and had killed several people. Chuckagee
learned that his friends had been told not to come, and he
sent down personal word that they would be protected by
his men if they came, but it was deemed wise to follow the
government's advice. His deeds of daring were told and
retold throughout the countryside; once in a while a
member of his band would be captured and then there was
a hanging. At one time the government learned that his
band was in a certain village, and dispatched a special
train with 200 soldiers to the scene. The peasants learned
of this action on the part of the government, and sent word
to the brigand. He came down to that railway station
with his band the evening the train was due, seized all the
26o THE MOSLEM WORLD
officials, and as the train pulled in his band opened fire.
Not a single soldier escaped unwounded and many were
killed. Chuckagee had two wives who lived in the village
on the mountain, and he wanted his children to have a
good education.
Kind as these brigands are to the peasants, it goes hard
with the wealthy Turk or Greek who falls into their
clutches, and they have even taken Europeans from their
own gardens within less than two miles of Smyrna. Their
captives are held for ransom, unless it be some official who
has had a member of the band strung up, and then he pays
for it with his blood.
As a rule the brigands are very superstitious, and before
they start out on any important undertaking they gen-
erally sacrifice a sheep in the presence of the entire band,
and a careful examination is made of the entrails. An-
other favorite form of divination is to scrape the shoulder-
blade of a sheep or lamb. The thin bone is then held up
to the light, and the lights and shades exhibited on its sur-
face indicate whether the fates are with them or not.
Made up, as the bands mostly are, of ignorant peasants,
such superstitions have a powerful hold on their minds,
and if the signs are not propitious the hardiest will aban-
don the undertaking. Each member of the band takes a
solemn oath on the Koran, and sometimes on a sword or
gem, to obey the chief, and be faithful to his comrades.
In some bands a pill is made from flour and the outlaws'
blood, which is swallowed when the oath is taken. The
war has seen an increase in brigandage. Chuckagee met
the fate of many a brigand, being killed by a member of
his own band.
Woe to the village that informs on a band, or proves
traitor to them in any way, though this is practically un-
known, as the brigands are from the peasant class them-
selves, and often render great service to the villages. I
know of an instance where the government sent soldiers to
beat certain villages, but at the right moment the brigands
LIFE OF THE PEASANT TURK 261
came down and beat the soldiers. At one place Chucka-
gee discovered that the government officials had ordered
the peasants to build a bridge over a river near their vil-
lage, just at the time when they were in the field reaping
their harvest. To leave their crops standing would mean
ruin. Year after year this trick had been kept up, and
each year the peasants had escaped by paying large bribes
to the officials. At the close of a certain harvest season,
after all the crops were in, Chuckagee and his band de-
scended upon that town, seized the officials and ordered
that the bridge be built at once and that the officials pay
for all the material and labor and pay well. After that
there was no more bribing needed in that town.
Funeral Ceremonies
When a Moslem peasant draws near to death, his rela-
tives assemble, and if he is still conscious he asks forgive-
ness of them all. This is called helal. Immediately after
death the body is washed by the imam, if the deceased is a
man, or by women, if the dead be a woman. It is a rigid
custom among Moslems of Turkey, that after death no
man may look upon a woman's corpse, nor a woman upon
a man's corpse.
After the washing of the body, it is wrapped in a shroud
and placed on a bier called the rahat yatak, or couch of
repose. On the same day the body is placed in an open
coffin, and carried to the door of the mosque. In front of
every mosque is a large flat stone on which the body is
placed. Here a prayer is offered by the imam, and the
mourners join in the responses. Only men attend the
funeral service and go to the grave. From the door of the
mosque the body is borne on the shoulders of friends to
the cemetery. The places of the bearers are often changed
and taken by others, for it is considered an act of merit to'
help carry a body to its last resting place. On a man's
bier is his fez, on a woman's, her head covering is placed.
At the graveyard the body is taken from the coffin and
262 THE MOSLEM WORLD
placed in the grave, the custom generally being to lay it
on its right side and facing Mecca. The grave is then
filled and all depart save the imam, who remains to say a
few prayers.
In some communities it is the custom to plant twigs of
Cyprus along the side of the grave. If those on the right
side grow, the deceased is enjoying the delights of Para-
dise, otherwise he is among the lost.
The soul is supposed to remain in the body for some
hours after death, possibly for days. Two angels are said
to enter the grave with the departed. These angels, Mun-
kar and Nakir ask questions of the soul, to which the soul
must give correct answers. Among the answers must be
the repeating of the Moslem creed,
"I believe in one God and in Mohammed his prophet, and the Ka'aba
is my kibla."
If a soul answers the questions correctly, all is well;
but woe to the soul which hesitates or is unable to reply,
for the angels fall upon him with iron maces and torture
him. This idea is founded on a passage in the Koran:
"How, therefore, will it be with them (the unbelievers) when the
angels shall cause them to die, and shall strike their faces and their
backs?"
There is little outward mourning shown among the
Moslems, though three days after the funeral sweets or
food are sent to some neighboring poor family.
The village graveyard is almost always a most neglected
spot, where old, broken-down stones and weeds block
every path. Donkeys and goats wander among the graves,
while here and there a cypress tree rears its melancholy
grandeur. The tombstones of men are surmounted with a
carved fez. No care is taken to keep the cemetery in
order, or even in a state of respectability, and often it is a
dumping place for old cans and refuse. In fact, it sums
up as completely as any other feature of the average Mos-
lem village the condition, intellectually, morally and
spiritually of the community.
Smyrna. S. RALPH HaRLOW.
THE SO-CALLED HADITH QUDSL
Professor Goldziher has shown in his studies of Islam/
that Islam from the earliest century regarded Christianity
as a religion from which something could be learned, and
did not therefore disdain to borrow from it. This is
acknowledged by the Mohammedan theologians them-
selves.^ The early traditions of Islam indeed offer a
wealth of examples showing how readily and greedily the
founders of Islam borrowed from Christian sources. The
miracles recorded in the Gospels were transferred to the
realms of Islam, and what Jesus did became the act of
Mohammed ; for example, the miraculous supply of food
or w^ater, and the healing of the sick. Goldziher also
enumerates a number of the didactic statements from the
Gospels which are incorporated into the Hadith. The
most remarkable example he gives is that of the Lord's
Prayer: ^Tt is related by Abu Dardai that the Prophet
said: ^If any one suffers or his brother suffers, he should
say: ^^Our Lord God, which art in Heaven, hallowed be
Thy name; Thy kingdom (here apparently the words
''come; Thy will be done," are left out) is in heaven and
on earth ; as Thy mercy is in Heaven, so show Thy mercy
on earth; forgive us our debts and our sins (haubana wa
khatayana). Thou art the Lord of the good ; send down
mercy from Thy mercy, and healing from Thy healing on
this pain, that it may be healed.'" ' "
All these, however, belong to what Moslems call
Hadith Nabawi (Traditions of the Prophet) although
they are evidently borrowed from other sources. The
Hadith Nabawi are distinguished in Islam from an-
other species of tradition called Hadith Oudsi. ' This
iVol. ii. The Hadith and the New Testament.
2lbn Hajar, vol. i, p. 372.
3Abu Daud, vol. i, p. loi, quoted in "The Hadith and N. T," English Translation
S. P. C. K. London 1902 p. 18.
263
264 THE MOSLEM WORLD
distinction arose from the fact that the former were at-
tributed to Mohammed as the speaker and consisted either
of his sayings, his doings or acts which he permitted.
These were severally handed down — so it was believed —
from the lips of those who heard the words or were wit-
nesses of the acts in question. But in some cases the form
of a tradition showed that it contained the actual word of
God, and not the word of the prophet merely. Such tra-
ditions were designated as Hadith Qndsi (holy), or
Hadith Ilahi (Divine Tradition).
Both kinds of Hadith were held in great reverence from
the earliest days of Islam throughout the whole Moham-
medan world. The scruples which existed originally
against the dissemination and recording of Mohammed's
words in writing were soon overcome. The six standard
collections of Mohammedan Tradition, so well known,
contained not only the sayings of the Prophet and his
sunna, i. e. the record of his conduct, but also direct reve-
lations of God to former Prophets, and also to Mo-
hammed himself. Even in the smaller collections of
traditions, such as the 'Arabain of An-Nawawi, Hadith
Qudsi are found.
The only striking difference is that the Hadith Qudsi
at first sight do not seem to have so complete a series of
narrators (asnad) attached as do the other traditions.
They were doubtless delivered orally by the teacher to
the pupil, and there is no record, as far as we can learn,
of the date when they were first collected in the form in
which they now appear. In fact the whole subject of
these Hadith Qudsi requires further investigation. The
Encyclopaedia of Islam in the learned article on Hadith
by T. W. Juynboll gives very meagre information.*
Hughes' Dictionary of Islam gives nothing. There is
scarcely a reference to the subject in the standard Moslem
writers on tradition, as far as these have come to our no-
4Eight lines only, ending with the statement that the Leiden MS No. 1526, Cat. IV: 98.
gives a list of them.
THE SO-CALLED HADITH QUDSI 265
tice. In this outline study we have made use, however, of
three standard books. One is the only separately printed
collection of Hadith Qudsi namely the ^'Athafat-as-
Siniya" by al-Madani (Hyderabad 1323) ; the second a
manuscript by al-Manawi, which we were fortunately
able to purchase in Cairo. Brockelmann says (vol. ii, p.
306) that only two copies of this manuscript exist, viz.,
Leiden No. 1761 and Cairo I. 258.
Finally we consulted a third volume on Hadith Qudsi
of which a manuscript copy is found in the Sultanieh Li-
brary at Cairo. It is entitled Mi' at Hadith wa IVahid
Qudsiya by Mohammed Abu Ali ibn Mohammed ibn
al-Arabi. He was born 560 A. H. at Mursia, and taught
at Seville, afterwards traveling to the Hedjaz, Baghdad
and Mosul. He died in Damascus 638 A. H. Al-Arabi
is known as one of the greatest mystics in Islam, and was
a most voluminous writer. Brockelmann gives a list of
his books to the number of one hundred and fifty.'
In his introduction Ibn al-Arabi states the origin of his
collection of Hadith Qudsi was as follows: "When I
came across the saying of Mohammed the Prophet, ^Who-
soever commits to memory for my people forty Traditions
from my lips I will cause him to enter the ranks of those
for whom I intercede in the day of Judgment,' and also
the statement of the Prophet, ^Whosoever commits to
memory for my people forty Traditions that are necessary
to them I will record his name as a juriscult and learned
man,' in obedience to this statement I have taken pains to
collect while at Mecca forty Traditions during the months
of the year 599 A. H. and I made it a condition that the
first forty of my collection should be directly ascribed to
God Himself as the speaker; the second forty through
Mohammed as the narrator, — some of which are also nar-
rated by his Companions; and I finally completed the
collection, making it up to the number of loi by adding
twenty-one Traditions of a similar character. The whole
sGeschichtc der Arabischen Literatur. Vol. i, p. 441.
266 THE MOSLEM WORLD
collection consists therefore of loi Divine Traditions
(Hadith Ilahi)/' This manuscript is dated 1 139 A. H.
Our manuscript of Al-Manawi measures six by eight
and a half inches, and is on good parchment paper in
black ink with red ink headings for each tradition. It
consists of sixty-four folios clearly written text in the ordi-
nary Egyptian hand. The one who copied the manuscript
calls himself Ibrahim Suweif as-Shafa'i. The manuscript
is dated 1 122 A. H. It consists of two parts, the first part,
folio I to 38, contains 273 traditions, each of which begins
with the words: "Qal Allah" (God said). The various
traditions beginning with this formula are nevertheless
arranged alphabetically according to the particular state-
ment that follows. The second part — folio 38 to 65 —
consists of ninety-five traditions, some of considerable
length, arranged alphabetically, but none of which begin
with the usual formula. The printed collection by Al
Madani referred to consists of 239 pages and contains 856
numbered Hadiih Qudsi. Of these 164 belong to the first
part, each of them beginning ''Qal Allah" (God said).
Ninety belong to the second part — pages 30 to 46 — and
begin with the words ''Yaqul Allah" (God says). The
third part, ^rom page 46 to the end contains 603 traditions,
these are all arranged in alphabetical order.
By comparing the third part with the similar arrange-
ment in al-Manawi it is evident that although some of the
traditions in al-Manawi are evidently the same as those in
the al-Madani collection, the text is quite uncertain, and
there are many verbal variations. This, however, is not
important, as we shall see from the definition given of
Hadith Qudsi by Moslems, and the distinction made be-
tween these divine sayings and the unchangeable words of
Allah as found in the Koran. It is not surprising that the
title Hadith Qudsi seemed attractive enough to be used
for other collections which are not authentic. One of
them is entitled Akhbar Qudsiya, by Abdul Majid Ali,
Cairo, 1324 A. H. This book contains no actual sayings
THE SO-CALLED HADITH QUDSI 267
ascribed to God, but only stories about Mohammed,
mostly puerile and of doubtful origin, or evidently re-
cently fabricated. Other similar popular collections exist
and have a considerable sale, but they must be carefully
distinguished from real Hadith Qudsi. As regards the
author of the manuscript collection above mentioned, Abd
ar-Ra'af Mohammed bin Taj al-'Arifin Ali bin Zain
al-Abadin Zain ad-Din al-Hadadi al-Manawi was of the
Shafa4 sect, and was born in Cairo 952 A. H. He busied
himself from his youth in theological studies. For a short
time he was a Qadi, but soon retired to private life, and
studied until he was called to teach in the Madrassa as-
Sakahiva.
His success and reputation awakened enmity and envy,
and he died from poisoning after a long and suffering ill-
ness, 103 1 A. H. (1622 A. D.). Nineteen of his writings
are catalogued by Brockelmann (vol. ii, p. 306). The
most important is called Kiinuz al-Haqa'iq fi 'l-Iiadith,
and consists of 10,000 traditions alphabetically arranged,
and quoted from no less than forty-four other works on
tradition. In addition to his work on the Hadith Qudsi,
he wrote a supplement to it on Sufic prayers and traditions
called al-Matalih, also many other books, of which a list
is found in Brockelmann : they deal with botany, zoology,
mineralogy and various other sciences.
For a definition of the term Qudsi we turn to the ap-
pendix of the work by al-Madani. Referring to the dic-
tionary, al-Misbah, he says that the term is derived from
the Holy land of Jerusalem, al-Quds quoting also the
curious opinion expressed, on the authority of al-Jalabi,
that all the traditions called Hadith Qudsi were revealed
to Mohammed at the time of his ascent (Mi'raj) to
heaven, and that for this reason they are called Qudsi, be-
cause he ascended from a ^'pure place," namely Bait al-
Maqdis (Jerusalem).
This derivation is, however, evidently incorrect; al-
though based on another tradition that Mohammed re-
4
268 THE MOSLEM WORLD
ceived all of the Hadith Oudsi at the time of his ascent to
heaven from the Holy City of Jerusalem. For in another
place al-Madani refers to the dictionary, al-Misbah, and
says that the term is applied to the Holy Land of Jeru-
salem, and that God Himself is called Qudus because the
word signifies pure or purified.
He then goes on: '^As for Traditions being called holy
(qudsi), it is because they are related to God as regards
the substance and not the form of the narrative. The
Noble Koran, on the other hand, came down from God
not only in substance but in the very form of its syllables
by inspiration to the Prophet Mohammed. Moreover,
^Ali al-Qari, our teacher, said, the Hadith Qudsi is that
which the Master of all Narrators and the Full Moon of
Authorities (i. e. Mohammed) received from God some-
times by inspiration and again by dream or revelation,
leaving him free to express it in words as he pleased. It
differs from the Koran in this respect, because the latter
only descended from the Preserved Tablet by means of
the favour of the Angel Gabriel, accurate in every sylla-
ble. Moreover, its transmission was undoubtedly entire,
unchanged from age to age. The Koran and the Hadith
Qudsi also differ in many other points, among which the
learned have enumerated the following:
(i) The Hadith Qudsi may not be used in the repetition of the
ritual prayers.
(2) The written Hadith Qudsi is not forbidden to the touch of
him or her who is ceremonially unclean. (The text here gives detail
in Moslem phraseology.)
(3) The Hadith Qudsi is not inimitable, in the miraculous sense,
as is the Koran. (*Ijaz)
(4) He who denies the authority or truth of a holy tradition
{Hadith Qudsi) is not thereby considered an unbeliever (Kafir) as is
the case of one who denies the Koran."
Our author then goes on to give his authorities for these
various distinctions, and adds other information. He
quotes al-^Karmani in his book on Fasting as saying that
whatever words have come down to Mohammed without
the instrumentality of Gabriel, and without having the
THE SO-CALLED HADITH QUDSI 269
inimitable form of the Koran, are termed Hadith Qudsi.
He says there are also two other terms used: Ilahi (di-
vine) ov Rabbani (lordly).
At-Taibi says that the Koran consists of the exact words
spoken by Gabriel to the Prophet, while the Hadith Qudsi
consists of information of which the significance was given
to Mohammed sometimes by revelation and sometimes by
dream. This information is quoted from the book al-
Fawa'id hy Hafid at-Taftazani.
So much for the significance of the term used. The
sources of the Hadith Qudsi, as we shall see from the text
later, includes Old and New Testament fragments, often
torn out of their connection, stray verses from other
Apocryphal writers, and (what is most remarkable) abro-
gated verses of the Koran, which are preserved only in
these collections. In some cases a whole Surah appar-
ently, as the Tradition numbered eighty-two in al-
Madani's printed text.'' This both in its form and con-
tents is so like the Koran that in reading it aloud to
well-read Moslems they affirmed to me it was in the
Koran, until shown their mistake.
In this connection we must remember, as remarked by
Margoliouth,^ that '^thcre was no check on the sources of
Moslem Tradition. Everything depended on the mem-
ory, recollection and often the imagination of the narrator.
Sometimes the ascription of a saying could be put right.
Abu Talib points out that one which was ordinarily
ascribed to the Prophet really belonged to the Sufi Saha at-
Tustari of the third century. Some of the Prophet's say-
ings were referred to earlier revelations, and can indeed
be identified in the Bible or Apocrypha. The principle
of jurisprudence whereby in civil suits the plaintiff must
produce evidence, whereas all that can be demanded of
the defendant is an oath, is sometimes referred to Omar,
6 p. 15. It reads in part as follows: "Then we caused them to inherit the Book, those
namely whom we chose from our servants and they entered Paradise without
giving account verily your Lord is the Forgiver, the Grateful Rewarder, who
permitted them to enter the abode of eternity by His graciousness, in which no evil shall
touch them nor impure speech harm them.
7l)arly Development of Mohammedanism, p. 90.
270 THE MOSLEM WORLD
at other times to the Prophet, whereas it really comes from
the Jewish Mishna."
This looseness of the whole fabric of tradition is abund-
antly illustrated by many of the Hadith Qudsi. We can
easily understand how these collections of pious sayings
were made, and how all sorts of statements which had no
authority, save in the fertile brain of those who uttered
them, were finally recorded as divine traditions. To quote
again from Margoliouth:® ''One method of dealing with
the discrepancies between the Biblical narratives and the
Koran was to supply the original Bible which the Jews
and Christians had been supposed to corrupt. Copies of
such works are occasionally found; they are close imita-
tions in style of the Koran, and therefore take the form of
addresses by the Divine Being to the Prophets to whom
they are supposed to have been revealed. Apparently
Sprenger was misled into supposing that a book of this
kind bearing the name of Abraham, was the Roll of Abra-
ham to whom some early Surahs of the Koran refer. The
Sufi, Abu Talib al-Makki, makes tolerably frequent use
of a collection which he calls "The Israelite Traditions,"
some of which are evidently based on narratives actually
found in the Bible. Thus he tells a story of the Temple of
Jeroboam, and the adventures of the Prophet who an-
nounced its fall, with very fair accuracy : proper names are
indeed omitted, and the whole story is a sort of replica of
the Mosque of Dirar or ''nonconformity," which was built
by some of the disaffected near the end of the Prophet's
career, and of which the Prophet ordered the destruction;
only the prophet who disobeyed the order is shown by a
special revelation to have been eaten by the lion not as a
punishment, but as an honour. One Khaithamah declared
that the Gospel contained a statement about the keys of
Korah's treasure-house, which according to the Koran
were a load for several persons; the Gospel gave the exact
weight."^
8 Karly Development of Mohammedanism, pp. 233-234.
i'Tabari, Comm. xx. 63-68.
THE SO-CALLED HADITH QUDSI 271
Koelle in his ''Mohammed and Mohammedanism Crit-
ically Considered" devotes the second part of his book to
the close parallel between the apocryphal accounts of Mo-
hammed's life in later tradition and the Gospel record of
our Saviour Jesus Christ/*^ This is ''the mythical Mo-
hammed as he was portrayed by the vivid imagination of
his uncritical admirers." "What was known of the lives
of previous prophets (or of their sayings) was exaggerated
to suit the conception of the chief and seal of all the
prophets, such as Mohammed claimed to be, and was most
unscrupulously applied to him."''
The system of pious frauds revealed in these collections
of Hadith Qudsi is not abhorrent to the Moslem mind.
According to their teaching, deception is allowable in
such cases. On what occasion would it be more justifiable
— not to say meritorious — than in furthering the interests
of Islam, and adding glory to the character of Mohammed
by supplementing his divine revelation in this way.'^
We will now let the Hadith Qudsi speak for themselves.
The collection does not merit entire translation, it will
s ffice to show from a number of instances the character
and sources of some of these Divine sayings, and allow^ the
reader to draw his own conclusions.
The following are examples of some of the more strik-
ing ^«<^//A Qudsi translated from al-Madani's collection,
chosen because this is the only printed collection of
Hadith Qudsi, and its traditions are all carefully num-
bered. In one or two cases there are repetitions, but I
have given some of these in order to show the variations in
the text.
"God said: I am in a great difficulty regarding both men and Jinn:
I created them, jet they worship others beside Me ; I provide them with
food, and then they return thanks to others than Myself." (No. 5.)
"God said: Whosoever has not blessed My judgment, when disaster
overtakes him let him seek another Lord than Me." (No. 6.)
"God said: If anyone lose his two (tycs in My service, I will restore
them in Paradise." (No. 14.)
lOpp. 240-446,
iiTdem, p. 245.
i2Cf. the remarks of Muir in his I^ife of M(^ fcimed vol. i, p. I,XXIV to I^XXIX.
272 THE MOSLEM WORLD
"God said : I have prepared for My servants who are pious, that
which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor that which has entered into
the heart of any man." (This tradition is related on the authority of
Bukhari and Muslim, who have it from Abu Hurairi!) (No. 17.)
**God said: My mercy overtakes My wrath." (No. 24.)
"When My servant draws near to Me a handsbreadth, I draw near
to him an armslength; if he draws near to Me an armslength, I draw
near to him a fathom; if he approaches Me walking, I approach him
running." (No. 28.)
"God said: Pride is My greatness, and majesty My cloak; whoso-
ever deprives Me of either of them, I will make him taste the torture of
the fire." (Repeated 177.) (No. 34.)
"God said: God loves best those who hasten to worship." (No. 37.)
"God said : If any of My servants suffer evil in body, or children, or
property and bears it with patience, I will reward him on the Day of
Judgment by making his account easy." (No. 46.)
"God said : There is no god but God ; this is My word and I am He
(it). Whosoever, therefore, says this creed enters into My safekeeping
and whosoever enters My safekeeping is free from Mv punishment."
(No. 49.).
"God said: I am the Lord, and have predestined good and evil; woe,
therefore, to him at w^hose hands I have predestined evil, and blessed is
he at whose hands I have predestined good." (No. 50.)
"God said : There are servants of Mine who before men wear sheep's
clothing, but their hearts are more bitter than gall, and their tongues are
sweeter than honey. They deceive Me." (No. 56.)
"God said : Whenever My servant thinks of Me I am present in his
thoughts; therefore let him think concerning Me as he pleases." (No.
58-) ...
This tradition repeats No. 28 in other words, both reminding us of the
Prodigal's return in Luke, 15th Chapter. (No. 61.)
"God said: There are three things which if man observe he will be
My friend, and if he neglect them My enemy: Prayer, Fasting and
Ritual Purification." (No. 74.)
"God said: Whosoever remembers Me in meditation, I will remem-
ber him before multitudes of My angels; whosoever remembers Me in
the public assemblv, I will remember him before the highest Companion-
ship" ( ?). (Ar-Rafiq al-'Aali.) (No. 77.)
"God said: My servant who believes in Me is more precious to Me
than some of My angels." (No. 80.)
(No. 82 is an imitation, both in form and matter, of a Koran Verse-,
and might be read without distinguishing the difference; one wonders
why it was not collected with the other chapters and verses.)
"God said: Whoever is engaged in praying to Me or asking Me a
favour, freely I will give it to him before he asks." (No. 86.)
"God said : Whosoever visits me in Mekka, or at the Mosque of my
Apostle in Medina, or at Jerusalem, and dies so doing, will die a martyr."
(No. 88.)
"God said: I make a covenant with my servant that if he observes the
prayers at the appointed time, I will not punish him, but cause him to
enter Paradise without giving account." (No. 93.)
THE SO-CALLED HADITH QUDSI 273
"God said: My servants cannot array themselves in more proper
dress than asceticism." (No. 96.)
(No. 149 seems to be a recollection from the Psalter and reads: —
''David said: when speaking to God; *0 Lord, w^hich of thy serv-
ants is most precious to Thee, so that I may love him w^ith Thy love?'
God replied to David: 'The most beloved of My servants to Me is he
who is pure in heart and intent; who does not do evil to anyone, nor
walk after back-biting. The mountains may depart, but he who loves
Me will abide, and I will love him.' Then David said : 'O Lord, Thou
knowest that I love Thee, and love those that love Thee; how shall I
show my love to Thee to Thy servants?' He said: 'Remember them in
their troubles and in their need, for verily there is no one who assists the
oppressed, or walks with him in his affliction, that I will not establish his
goodness in the Day when men's footsteps slip.' "
"God said: 'Pride is My cloak and Majesty is My mantle, and who-
soever deprives Me of either of them I will cast him into hell." (No.
^77.)
(No. 354 is remarkable because according to the authority of as-Suyuti
in the Itqan (vol. ii, p. 25, these very words came down to Mo-
hammed as part of the Koran, but were afterwards abrogated. The
abrogated verses were preserved in the Hadith Qudsi) "God said:
'Verily we have given men health, that they may perform the prayer and
give alms. If a son of Adam had a parcel of land, he would wish for
twain: had he twain, he would love to have a third added: nothing will
satisfy the desires of man and fill his belly except the dust. After that
God will be merciful to him to whom he will show mercy.' " (No.
354.)
So far the selections from al-Madani.
The following are taken from the collection by al-
Manawi. They differ in no important respect from those
by al-Madani, but the following examples are noteworthy.
"Said the Apostle of God : It is written in the Torah, O Son of Man,
I have created thee and provided for thee, yet dost thou worship other
than Myself." (Folio i, No. 2 of the mss.)
"Those whom I love most among my worshippers are the ones that
hasten to break the fast." (Folio 2, No. 6.)
"God said: If any of my servants purposes to do evil, but does it not,
I will consider it to his merit and not to his discredit." (Folio 5, No. i.)
"God said : There are some of those who profess to believe in Me, but
in the same breath deny Me. For example, those who say, 'Rain has
come down upon us, and we have received our food by the mercy of God,
and His bounty.' These are true believers in Me, and do not believe in
the influence of the stars. But whosoever says 'A certain star has brought
us rain or good fortune,' he is an unbeliever.' " (Folio 6, No. n.)
(This gives in almost exact form the text of Isaiah 64: 4 and i Cor.
2:9) "God said: I have prepared for my servants who believe in Me
that which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and that which has not oc-
curred to the heart of man." The asnad or list of narrators for this
Hadith is given as follows: — "Ibn Jarir received this from al-Hassan by
word of mouth." Other asnad are equally scanty. (Folio 6, No. 3.)
274 THE MOSLEM WORLD
"God said: The heavens and the earth would not be able to contain
Me, yet I dwell in the heart of the true believer." (Folio 6, No. 7.)
"God said to Mohammed: Verily thy people will not cease asking
foolish questions, until they say. Behold God has created the creation, but
who created God?" (Folio 7, No. 4.)
"God said: I have made a covenant with My servant that if he ob-
serves the stated prayers I will not enter into judgment with him, but
cause him to enter the Garden without giving account." (Folio 8,
No. 7.)
"God said : I am present when My servant thinks of Me, and where-
soever He remembers Me there I am." (This Tradition is given in
various forms on the same page.) (Folio 13, No. 6.)
"Said God: The evil eye is a passing-arrow of Satan. Whosoever
abandons belief in it because he fears Me, I will give him faith in the
place of it, by w^hich he will praise Me in his heart." (Folio 17, No. 5.)
"God said: As you judge you shall be judged, and with the measure
by which you mete it it shall be measured to you again." (The complete
asnad is given of this Gospel passage, but it is not stated to be from the
Injil. Folio 21, No. 2.)
This gives a long tradition in which God says that only their prayers
are answered who have fed the hungry, and clothed the naked, and shewn
mercy to those in trouble, and visited the stranger. (This is evidently
taken from Matthew 25 : 31.) (Folio 22, No. 7.)
"Whosoever remembers Me rather than begs in prayer, I will give
him his request before he asks." (Another form of the scripture state-
ment: "Before they call I will answer.") (Folio 26, No. 6.)
"God said: There is no god but God. This is My word and I am
It. And whosoever pronounces it, I will cause him to enter my safe-
keeping, and he will sufiFer no punishment." (Perhaps an echo of John
1:1. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.") (Folio 29, No. 8.)
"God said: O Jesus, I will send after thee a people who when they
accept good at My hands will return praise and thanksgiving, and if
they receive that which they dislike, they will still be content and pa-
tient." (Evidently a prophecy of the glory of Islam over Christianity.)
(Folio 36, No. 2.)
"God said: O Moses, thou son of Amram! Show mercy and you
will receive mercy." (This is a gospel beatitude torn out of its connec-
tion, and preserved as a Divine w^ord to Moses.) (Folio 37, No. 5.)
"God spoke to Jesus the Son of Mary: Instruct thyself by My wis-
dom, and if vou receive benefit, then teach men; and if not, then fear
Me." (Folio 45, No. 3.)
"God revealed to Jesus that He would move about from place to place,
so that none could recognize Him and do Him harm. Then God swore
by His greatness and His glorv that He would marry Him to two thou-
sand houris, and give Him a vision in Paradise for four hundred years."
(Again a caricature of the gospel ; many such occur in both collections.)
(Folio 45, No. 8.)
The above selections are typical, and although taken
somewhat at random represent the contents of the collec-
tion fairly well.
THE SO-CALLED HADITH QUDSI 275
The questions raised in the investigation of this subject
are many, both from the standpoint of orthodox Islam and
that of the Orientalist and student of Comparative Re-
ligion. If these Hadith Qiidsi are Divine traditions and
portions of God's revelation to man, why are they not
mentioned in the Koran? If they are referred to in the
Koran, are they the books that came down to Adam, Seth
and other prophets? But these books are supposed to
have been lost. How then did these fragments remain?
What relation has the Iladith Qudsi to the canonical Gos-
pels or to apocryphal writings? Why did the collectors
of Tradition make no distinction between the words of
Mohammed, who is, after all, human, and the words
which are put into the mouth of God? Why was there
never an authentic collection made without variation of
the text? What is the relation and the authority of these
sayings to the Koran text itself, which is, to the Moslem,
the Word of God? What shall we say of the abrogated
verse of the Koran, which appears in this collection? Are
the other sayings also perhaps portions of the Koran which
were abrogated? Or must we conclude, from the stand-
point of criticism, that the Hadith Qudsi emphasizes the
utterly untrustworthy character of all these collections as
regards both the text (main) and the narrators (asnad)?
One is reminded of the Hadith preserved by ad-Darimi,
and well known (mashhur) to all Moslems: ''Inna
^l-hadith qadhin ^ala ^l-Koran wa laisa al-Koran qadhin
'alaihi fi baadh al-umur/^ ('' Verily, Tradition deter-
mines the significance of the Koran and not the Koran
Tradition in certain matters.") One of these matters
surely is the conception of inspiration and revelation in
the Moslem sense.
Cairo, Egypt. S. M. ZWEMER.
THE IBADFIITES
(El-Ibadhiya or el-Abadhiya.)^
This article contains nothing new in the way of re-
search. Although I have had considerable intercourse
with different Beni M'zab, the chief representatives of the
Ibadhiya sect in Algeria, I have found it difficult to get
anything from them but vague generalities. I have tried
to unite in one view information drawn from many
sources, (see Bibliography), often using the very words
or textual translations of the sources I have drawn from.
To treat the subject fully would be impossible within the
limits of one article, while fuller details might prove
wearisome or too technical to the general reader. Those
wishing to study the matter further can do so by consult-
ing the works mentioned in the Bibliography.
To understand the doctrines of the Ibadhite communi-
ties, and their attitude towards the other divisions of
Islam, it is necessary to look back to the origin of the
Kharijite movement in the time of the Caliph Ali. The
following details are founded on Sir W. Muir's account of
the movement in his ^'Annals of the Early Caliphate."
The battle of Siffin between the armies of Ali and
Mua'wia was ended by an agreement to decide between
their rival claims on the judgment of the Koran. The two
parties mutually bound themselves '^to follow the judg-
ment of the Koran, and where the Koran was silent, the
acknowledged precedents of Islam." The Arab tribes
*M, Rene Basset in the Journal Asiatique 1899 on "Les sanctuaires de Djebel Nefousa,"
says "In spite of Ibn Khallikan, El-Beladzori, etc., who have adopted the reading Ibadh,
I have preferred to hold to that reading which tradition has conserved among the
Kharedjites up to our day and which is confirmed by a passage of El-Berradi (one of
their own writers) in Kitab el Djaouahar, p. 155: — Abd Allah-ibn Abadh ♦ * • * en-
nasbah ileihi Abadhi bifath' el-hamza." He refers to Motylinski — "Guerara dcpuis sa
fondation." French writers generally follow this usage, but a former Cadi of the sect
whom I knew intimately, had the inscription above his Mah'kama with Ibadhiya and al-
ways pronounced it so himself. The pronunciation of Abadh ■would, correspond to Am&rah
for Imarah, but this does not touch the testimony of El-Berradi.
In the "Bulletin de Correspondance Africaine" 1885 Facs. i et 11, pp. 149, 151, M.
Basset has spelt "Ibadhite." The present Mah'kama at Constantine, Algeria, has Ibadiya,
and the members of the community here, pronounce it so. (P. S.)
276
THE IBADHITES 277
who had opposed Othman had the claims of neither Ali
nor Mua^wia at heart. Their quarrel was with the pre-
tensions of the Koraish, but this decision appeared to
favour their theocratic and democratic contention that no
oath of allegiance ought to be sworn but to the Lord alone
{la hukm ilia lillah the rule belongs to Allah alone) . Be-
lievers being absolutely equal, there should be no Caliph,
nor oath of allegiance sworn to any man, but the govern-
ment should be in the hands of a Council elected by the
people. The first sign of an open separatist movement
was the withdrawing of twelve thousand men from Ali's
army after the ruse of Mua'wia's umpire. Though the
defection seemed overcome, it broke out openly when Ali
began to march on Syria against MuaVia. A great num-
ber of the rebels were slain at Nahrawan, and also many
of the ''companions of the prophet." (38 A. H., 658 A.
D.) The remnant continued their agitation.
The final coming to terms of Ali and Mua'wia did not
satisfy the theocratic Kharijites. Their hopes of the over-
throw of the ungodly kingdoms of the world (including
the aristocratic claims of the Koraish) and the establish-
ment of the reign of righteousness seemed further off than
ever. At last three of them determined to kill Ali,
Mua'wia and his lieutenant Amru. The latter escaped.
Mua'wia was wounded, but Ali succumbed.
According to the Kitah el-Jawahir el-muntaqdt of El-
Berradi (prob. IX Cent. A. H.), and the Kitab es Siar of
Shemakhi (died 928 A. H.), both of them Ibadhite his-
torians of North African origin, the Ibadhites date the
origin of their sect from the Caliphate of Othman, and
give as justification of their separation, the acts of Oth-
man, such as the deposing of governors in favor of his
own relatives, the Omayyads, who according to Noldeke
were able men for the most part, but of an intensely world-
ly disposition; the scandal of el-Walid presiding at public
prayer in a state of drunkenness: and various innovations
(ahdath) of Othman, contrary to the law, his violence
278 THE MOSLEM WORLD
with regard to x\bou D'err el-Ghefari which led to the
murder of Othman. Their feeling with regard to Ali has
been already mentioned, and w^ill be referred to again.
On the occasion of the separation caused by the question
of arbitration between Ali and MuaSvia, they appointed
a temporary Imam for the emergency (fi maslak id-
defaa), Abdullah ibn er-Rasibi, who was killed at Nahr-
awan.
The Khawarij, in their fanatical zeal for a theocracy —
no rule but Allah^s alone — had no worldly views. Nol-
deke says of them that they "certainly had hold of a fun-
damental idea of Moslems (the awarding of the Imamate
'to the best,' though he were an Abyssinian slave). This
idea they developed to the utmost; they were in a certain
sense right, but on such principles as theirs it would be
impossible to establish any State. They were fanatics,
who sought to carry out their ideas with the wildest en-
ergy and the most desperate bravery, and to a certain ex-
tent they maintained a loyalty to conviction worthy of all
admiration ; but they only caused a great deal of suffering,
and produced nothing." They fought with equal bravery
whatever their chances of success, but in their zeal they
exercised savage cruelties on those whom they regarded
as enemies of the Lord, believing that in annihilating
them they did Him service. They preserved the primi-
tive spirit of Islam, and were ardent disciples of the
Koran and the traditions. It is related that one of their
leaders, taken in a revolt against the Caliph Hisham, was
burnt to death with a number of his followers. He died
repeating the Koranic verse, ''Say, the fire of Hell is
fiercer in its heat, if they but know it" (Sur. IX. 82).
Sir William Muir characterizes the Khawarij as Pur-
itan Covenanters of Islam. The Soffarides or Sofrites —
a branch of Kharijism, arose in North Africa about 116
A. H. These with the Ibadhiya exercised great power,
recognizing neither the claim of the Hashimites nor of
any other to the Caliphate. They were democratic theo-
THE IBADHITES 279
crats, and represented the Berber democratic spirit arrayed
against the domination of the foreign invader, as well
as the protestation of a persecuted sect, which claimed to
represent the true spirit of Islam. In the time of the Ab-
baside Caliphs the Ibadiya under the leadership of Abu-
1-Khattab, one of the five missionaries whom they call the
"bearers of science," resisted the Orthodox armies. He was
proclaimed Imam in 140 A. H. at Siad, west of Tripoli,
and was killed in battle against the Abbaside forces in 144
with twelve or fourteen thousand of his followers. After
him Abu Hatim was elevated to the Imamate, with title
of ''Imam of Defence/' in 156 A. H. He was killed in bat-
tle against the Abbaside forces, with thirty thousand of his
followers. An Ibadhite dynasty, the Rostemide imams,
held power at Tahert (Tiharet or Tagdemt) for more
than 130 years, and only disappeared when the Fatimides
founded their empire in the Maghrib, (909A. D.). Since
that time they have been a minority without any political
power, but as a sect they still exist, and hold strongly to
their opinions. Although hated and despised by the other
Moslems, they still continue to call themselves ''the people
of the Truth," and cherish the hope that their doctrine
will triumph yet before the time of the end. In North
Africa they are found in compact groups in the Jebel
Nefousa (Tripoli), the island of Jerba (Tunisia), and in
Algeria in the Confederation of the Beni M'zab, at
Wargla and the Wad-Rir'. They are all of Berber origin.
Their name ''Ibadhiya'' comes from Abdullah ben
Ibadh et-Temimy, who was chosen Imam in Arabia by
the Khawarij during the reign of the Caliph Marwan
(127 to 132 A. H. =744-749 A. D.).
These original Ibadhiya disallowed the claim of the
Baghdad Caliph, as well in civil as in religious matters,
and set up their own Imam, invested with corresponding
powers in both capacities. Their Imams were elected
for personal merit or popularity for nine hundred years,
until 1624 A. D. The centre of their power was in Oman.
28o THE MOSLEM WORLD
From 1624, although elected, the preference was for one
of the ruling family. The sons of the Imam were called
Sayyid and the daughters Sayyida. Since 1804 the rulers
of Oman have never taken the title of Imam, but only that
of Sayyid. After his election, the first duty of the Imam
was to lead in the Friday prayer. Sayyid Said, who ruled
from 1804 to 1856, had as successor at Muscat his son
Sayyid Thowani, while a younger son reigned at Zanzi-
bar, thus dividing the former Sultanate of Oman and Zan-
zibar. The Ibadhiya of Oman, Zanzibar and the North
African communities mentioned above sum up the adher-
ents of the sect, with the exception of some small isolated
groups. At present those of Oman and Zanzibar are prac-
tically under British control, those of Jebel Nefousa un-
der Italy, and the rest under the French government.
Ibn Batuta gives an account of his visit to Oman. He
says, "We entered the capital of the country, which is the
town of Nazoua Its inhabitants are accustomed
to take their meals in the courts of the mosques, each one
bringing what he has provided. They eat thus all togeth-
er, and travelers are admitted to eat with them. They are
strong and brave, always at war among themselves. They
are of the Ibadhite sect, and go through the Friday noon-
day prayers four times, after which the Imam reads verses
of the Koran, and gives a sermon in the Khotba style in
which he supplicates the favor of God upon Abu Bakr
and Omar, but passes over in silence Othman and Ali.
When they wish to mention Ali they refer to him as 'the
man,' saying 'It is said concerning the man' or 'the
man said — '. They implore the divine favor upon that
criminal, the accursed Ibn Moljam (the murderer of
Ali), calling him 'the pious servant of God, the suppres-
sor of sedition.' "
On the Ibadhiya of Oman one can consult the "His-
tory of the Imams and Seyyids of Oman," an English
translation by Badger of an Arabic work by Salil ibn-
Razik. The translator added three Appendices: (A) On
THE IBADHITES 281
the title Imam. (B) On the Ibadhiya. (C) On the mur-
der of Ali. Badger refers to the account given by Lieu-
tenant Wellsted on the Ibadhiya of Oman in his ^'Travels
in Arabia" (1838). Wellsted drew his information as to
the tenets of the sect from a manuscript in his possession
as well as from personal observation. Badger expresses
his regret that Wellsted was not able to make better use of
his document, saying that the specific information which
it probably contained is for the most part so abridged and
mixed up with extraneous generalities that it is difficult
to discriminate between them. Yet the account given by
Wellsted, while not pretending to give a reasoned exposi-
tion of their doctrines, agrees fairly well with the special
tenets of the North African Ibadhiya, who sum up their
differences from the orthodox Sunnis under six heads.
Badger gives an extract of an account furnished him by
Mr. Frederick Ayrton, and taken from the Kitab el
Milal wa 'n-Nahal by Mohammed ibn Abd el-Kerim
esh-Shahristani. This account enters into theological dis-
quisitions on predestination, etc., but does not mention the
special points of difference between them and the ortho-
dox Sunnis. One point there mentioned, however, is very
distinctive of their doctrine, namely, that '^the sinner of a
great sin may be an attester of the Unity of God, but not
a true believer, inasmuch as acts enter into faith/' also
'^that he who commits the great sin of denying God's grace
(i. e. a Moslem denier) is an unbeliever." Badger's ac-
count is based, not so much on Ibadhite writers, as on
Orthodox Sunni sources.
Wellsted's account of the Ibadhiya of Oman is very in-
teresting, even if fragmentary. He says, ''The Khawarij-
ites highly value themselves on being followers of the
pure tenets of the prophet, unalloyed by any intermixture
with the heresies which at different periods have sprung
up in the Mohammedan world. As regards the ceremon-
ial portion of the faith professed by this class their prac-
tice seems distinguished by a much greater simplicity than
282 THE MOSLEM WORLD
belongs to most other Mohammedan sectaries — circum-
cision without any other ceremony, funerals conducted
with little external display. They jealously disclaim con-
nection with any of the numerous other sects of Islam —
^^We approximate," says the writer of the manuscript that
Wellsted quoted from, ^*not to any sect, nor does any sect
approximate to us. How can we be in alliance with those
innovators who oppose God's religion? We conclude
such to be devoted to ruin ; enemies of God ; infidels whose
portion hereafter shall be in Gehenna forever. They deny
the eternity of future punishments; they diminish the
enormity of sin ; we enhance it. The portion of the wicked
surely will be for ever, for God is great." They apply to
themselves the tradition in which Mohammed is reported
to have said, ''My people shall be divided into seventy-
three divisions; all of them shall be in the fire (of
Gehenna) , except one." They claim to be the saved frac-
tion (al-farqa en-najia). The eternity of future punish-
ment, even for ungodly Moslems, is one of their distinc-
tive doctrines. Another is on the question as to whether
Mohammed actually saw God (ruyat al-Bari). The
other Sunnis maintain that he did, the Ibadhiya deny it,
asserting that such an opinion is in fact Kufr (infidelity)
and "to say that God can be seen, being to limit and cir-
cumscribe the illimitable and incomprehensible is there-
fore absurd" (Wellsted's manuscript). They say that
when Moses is said to have seen God, the meaning is that
he witnessed the effects of his power and majesty, not that
he viewed Him face to face. Believers in heaven will not
actually see God. This principle of interpretation they
apply respecting the Scales of the day of judgment, in
which all men are to be weighed, and also the bridge,
es-Sirat, leading over Hell to the gates of Paradise. The
former, say they, is merely a metaphorical expression, and
the latter means nothing more than the narrow path of
truth, so difficult to follow that it is comparable to the
edge of a sword. The istiwa (session) of God upon His
THE IBADHITES 2^3
throne is also in their view, metaphorical. The other
Sunnis divide the wicked into two classes, infidels and
pagans in the first, and reprobates and apostates in the
second, but they refuse to style the latter infidels, however
unworthy as Moslems they may happen to be. The Ibad-
hiya, more strict and conscientious, consider all who have
once renounced their faith to be unbelievers, distinguish-
ing, however, the infidelity of grace from the infidelity of
reprobacy, and look upon all pagans, including Jews and
Christians, as coming under this latter class. Further,
the orthodox Sunnis assert the infallibility and divine au-
thority of the prophet's companions, saying it is a sin to
disobey their concurring determination, and that they in-
herited the right of true judgment. This the Khawarij
deny, on the plea that the son of Noah, the child of a
prophet, did wrong, so might a prophet's follower. They
accuse both the Sunnis and the Shi'as of error, in making
certain texts of the Koran to apply only to the Prophet's
descendants, while according to their interpretation they
have reference to the faithful of every rank and station.
They deny that the authority of the first four Imams is to
be implicitly followed. Their doctrine on this point is
regulated by the principle of the ''manifest way" (maslak
ed-dhohour.) (''See Aqidaof the Ibadhites." Arabic text
and translation into French by A. de C. Motylinski, men-
tioned in the Bibliography) . In a note based on Ibadhite
commentaries, he says, ''The manifest way is the way of
principle, that which is obligatory when all the conditions
required for the constitution of the Imamate are united.
Mohammed was in this state at the moment of his death.
It was also in such conditions that Abu Bakr and Omar
exercised the supreme power over all the Moslem com-
munity. They consider the princes of Oman possessed the
supreme pontificate, manifestly as also Abu-1-Khattab el-
Maaferi, their first Imam in the Maghrib proclaimed at
Tripoli by the Nefousa, and also Abd er-Rahman ibn
Rostem and his successors. They regard Ali to have for-
5
284 THE MOSLEM WORLD
feited his right to the Imamate by accepting arbitration.
They claim that rebels and sinners against God were not
fit judges of the Imamate. They reproach Ali with the
slaughter of many of their sect, and that he died without
repentance, since he exhibited none of the evidences
which are considered necessary corroborations of such a
state, viz., restitution and reparation.
In the Aqida above mentioned it is said : — The ways of
religion are four: — (i) The manifest way, mentioned
above; (2) The way of defence (maslak ed-defaa), as
when the Moslems, in case of danger, appoint a tempo-
rary Imam in order to defend the rights of God in fight-
ing against His enemies. Such a case arose at the time of
the separation caused by the question of arbitration be-
tween Ali and MuaSvia, when Abdullah ibn Wahb er-
Rasibi was appointed Imam by the adversaries of the ar-
bitration, the partizans of the ''sole judgment of God —
la hukm ilia lillah/^ (3) The way of sacrifice (Shira)
that is to be followed in desperation by the faithful serv-
ants of God, in fighting for the faith to the death. The
faithful when their number reach forty at least, make
the supreme sacrifice of their lives for the triumph of
their religion, purchasing from God Paradise in this way
in exchange for their life. They cannot return to their
homes till their number is reduced to three. Noldeke
says on this point (see Bibliography), ''one of the
chief watch-words of the old death-defying Kharijites
was the koranic verse, 'God has bought from the faithful
their-life and their goods with this price — that Paradise
is to be their portion, and they are to fight, slay and be
slain in the path of God,' and so on (Sura IX, 112). In
accordance with this word 'bought/ the Kharijites called
themselves by preference 'sellers' (or buyers) Shurat) ;
''for heaven as their price they gave God their souls/' (4)
The way of secrecy (ketman), when it is impossible for
the faithful to triumph over their enemies and to con-
THE IBADHITES 285
stitute a state governed by a legitimate chief of their
choice.
It is also said: — Three things concur to complete
Islam: — Revelation, Siinna and Rai. Under Rai comes
the question of the Imamate. The Imamate becomes
obligatory upon a people when they possess in men, arms,
horses, provisions, etc., a quantity equal to the half of
what the enemy possesses. But the Imam must also have
sufficient Knowledge fscience). It is not necessary that
he should be a Koraishite. It is sufficient that he be vir-
tuous and pious, and rule in conformity with the Koran
and the Sunna. If he deviate from that he should be de-
posed.
They hold it to be the duty of each believer to enjoin
the good and reprove the evil. It is only possible to do
this fully when the sovereign power is established openly,
for then only can the penalties prescribed in the Koran
and Sunna be applied. Thus the prescription which en-
joins the good and reproves or represses the evil can
only receive its perfect application by the constitution of
the Imamate. In this case evil is fully repressed by the
hand, the learned repress it with the tongue (or by writ-
ing), the people by the heart.
They are opposed to the doctrine that the Koran is
uncreated. In the Aqida mentioned above it is said, "He
is not of us who says that the names of God are created,
(the vocables are created but the ideas they represent, the
attributes of God, are uncreated, being of the essence of
God) ; neither is he that says the Koran is uncreated. El-
Berradi in his Catalogue of the books of the sect, (See
Books of the Ibadhite sect in Bibliography) mentions a
work by Abu Ibrahim el-Ghadamesi, in which are refuted
the arguments in favor of the Koran being uncreated. In
the Djawahir of Berradi there is a Risala of the Roste-
mide Imam Aflah ibn Abd el-Wahab on the subject.
M. A. de C. Motylinski sums up their chief distinctive
286 THE MOSLEM WORLD
doctrines in the Encyclopedia of Islam (Article Abad-
hite) as follows: —
(i) The Koran is the word of God, created by him.
(2) God cannot be seen in Paradise. (3) Recompenses
and punishments in the other world are both eternal,
(even for professing Moslems if they get there). Hell
will not be destroyed any more than will Paradise. (4)
God pardons venial sin; but grievous sin (kabair) can-
not be pardoned, unless they are blotted out by repentance.
(5) It is the duty of every Moslem to enjoin the good
and reprove the evil as far as he is able. (6) All Mos-
lems are strictly compelled to acknowledge their solidar-
ity, which they express by word and action, but the indi-
vidual who acts contrary to the prescriptions of the re-
ligious law loses all claim on the friendship of his core-
ligionists, and should be treated as an enemy, until he
performs the act of repentance. There is a kind of relig-
ious excommunication which has grave religious and civil
consequences." (Under this head comes all that is in-
cluded in the doctrine and practice of Walaya and
Baraa).
''The Ibadhites of Algeria affect a great austerity ot
morals, at least in the K'sur of the M'zab. Here the re-
ligious chiefs exercised a veritable tyranny before the an-
nexation by the French Government, and in purely re-
ligious matters they still exercise a tyrannical supervision.
In the towns of the Algerian Tell, where they congregate
for the purpose of commerce, the practice is not always
in accordance with the theory. It must, however, be
admitted that generally they keep their beliefs very jeal-
ously. Except for the exigencies of their very brisk com-
merce, they do not mix with orthodox Moslems; mar-
riages with the latter are rare exceptions, and are repro-
bated by the whole community. This puritanism has
formed them into a homogenous and compact group,
clearly distinguishable by their behaviour, character and
THE IBADHITES 287
tendencies amidst the orthodox Arabs or Berbers of North
Africa."
The Ibadhiya give themselves the name of ahl el-haqq
(the people of the truth), ahl ed-d'anjoa, ashab ed-d'awa
(the people of the doctrine, possessors, or companions, of
the doctrine) ahl el-wifaq (the people of conformity,
conformists) ; they call their sect ed-d^awa (the doc-
trine), madhab el-haqq (the sect of truth) ; el-farqa el-
muhiqqa (the true fraction), el-farqa en-najia (the saved
fraction). Those who do not belong to their sect are
called miikhalifuna (opposers, non-conformists), ahl el-
khilaf (the people of the opposition, of dissent).
Besides ^'selling their lives to God in exchange for
Paradise" the Ibadhiya have waged war with the pen,
both to justify their obstinate resistance to the official
rites, and to maintain intact in their communities the
principles of their faith. They have a considerable re-
ligious literature, as well as historical writings, which are
of value to check the accounts given by orthodox writers
on events in the maze of Moslem North African history.
The following Bibliography will enable those who have
the time, opportunity and desire, to study this movement
more thoroughly. Those first mentioned and marked
with an asterisk have been used for the purposes of this ar-
ticle, in many places textually, which I have not been
able always to acknowledge in the text.
BiBLOGRAPHY.
*'Les livres de la secte Abadhite" by M. A. de C. Motylinski, — Bulletin
de Correspondance Africalne. 1885, pp. 15 ff. This contains a list of
Ibadhite works given by Abu '1-Qasem ibn Ibrahim el-Berradi, also
author of the '^Jawahir el-Muntaqat'' dealing with the history of the
sect. There is another historical work — Kitab es-Siar, by Esh-Shemakhi.
The first of these published in Cairo 1301, A. H. the other in 1302, A.
"L'Aqida des Abadhites," by M. de C. Motylinski, published in the
Recueil de Memoires et de Textes publie en I'honneur du XIV Con-
gres des Orientalistes. (Algiers 1905.) There is a short introduction.
The Arabic text is given, which was itself a translation of a composition
in the Berber dialect of the Ibadhites of the Sahara region, made by Abu
Hafs *Amr ibn Djami'a Nefousi. It is a sort of catechism, summarizing
288 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the beliefs and duties of the Ibadhite Moslem. In reading it, the style
reminded me of the "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles." There are a
good number of notes to the French translation, taken from Ibadhite
commentaries and translated into French. In the Appendix there is a
list of their chief religious works.
Ibn Batuta's account of his visit to Oman. Edition of the Societe
Asiatique, vol. ii, p. 227.
Mr. Percy Badger's translation of the "History of the Imams and
Seyyids of Oman," with Appendices.
Lieutenant Wellsted's "Travels in Arabia."
Noldeke's "Sketches of Eastern History."
"Arabia the Cradle of Islam," by S. M. Zwemer.
"Les Sanctuaires de Djebel Nefousa," by M. Rene Basset. Journa
Asiatique, 1899.
"La Zenatia du M'zab de Ouargla et de TOued Rir'." Paris, 1892.
Masqueray. "Chronique d'Abu Zakarya." Alger, 1878.
"Le Djebel Nefousa" by M. A. de C. Motylinski, 1898. This is a
translation of the narrative written, I believe, at the instigation of M.
de C. Motylinski, in the Tamazirt of Jebel Nefousa by Brahim Ou
Sliman Chemmaki. Algiers 1885.
"Encyclopedia of Islam." Article "Abadhites" by M. de C. Motylin-
ski. Algiers 1885.
"Islam et la Politique des Allies." By Mr. Insabato. French trans-
lation from Italian.
It may be interesting to note, from a missionary and
Christian point of view, the remark made by M. Rene
Basset in his study on "Les Sanctuaries de Djebel Ne-
fousa." This work is in the form of annotation and com-
mentary to an appendix found at the end of the ''Siar" of
Shemakhi, mentioned above, which M. de C. Motylinski
considers to be not by that author. M. Basset says, "It
will be noticed that in this enumeration, a certain number
of places still bear the name of Church (kenisa); they
are evidently ancient churches transformed into mosques.
Here archaeological exploration would probably make
some interesting discoveries. Tradition reports, that the
Nefousa were Christians, and helped in the defence of
Tripoli against the Moslem invasion." In one of the
places enumerated we find the name of "Church of
Temezda."
When will Churches of Christ be found again in these
countries and gather these hardy sectaries for the worship
of God and the service of his Christ?
PERCY SMITH.
Constantine, Algeria.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
The little mission station that forms the subject of this
article is ofif the beaten track in more than one sense. Al-
though situated in the heart of the much frequented land
of Egypt, it is far from the route of tourists, two miles
from a main route, and four from a railway station. A
wheeled vehicle is rarely seen, alltransportbeing by means
of camels and donkeys. Most of the inhabitants of the
village have never seen the desert, which is far beyond
the horizon, to which the great fields of cotton, maize, and
cloves, stretch in every direction. The shops are of the
tiniest description, like cupboards, in which the owner
sits, with his goods on shelves over his head, and the sup-
ply is quite uncertain. No one is a grocer, or baker, or
fruiterer; each just sells what he happens to have, and
when none has the thing desired, the customer goes with-
out it. A few men do building or rough carpentering,
but apart from these necessary things there are no indus-
tries other than land cultivation, so that it would be cor-
rect to describe nearly the whole population as farmers
and farm laborers.
The second point in which Shubra Zanga is unusual is
that it is entirely Mohammedan. Most mission stations
in Egypt are either in cities or large country towns, and
in these there is always some proportion, however small,
of Christians, and often a sprinkling of foreigners. But
Shubra Zanga is only a moderate sized village of 5,000
inhabitants and till two women missionaries took up their
residence there in the year 19 10 there was not a single
Christian in the place. The work commenced on ordi-
nary lines, though from the beginning it quite refused to
be of an ordinary character. The missionaries themselves
wished to do direct evangelization by means of visiting
and meetings, but it was thought necessary to have some-
289
290 THE MOSLEM WORLD
thing that would seem like a reason for settling in the
place, and a girls' school was decided upon as most suitable.
A young Egyptian woman was engaged as teacher, and no-
tice given of the opening of the school. The idea seemed
to be taken up warmly by the well-to-do landowners, there
were many enquiries as to what would be taught, and
what the fee would be. So it was settled to charge one
pound a month, and the school commenced with a few
scholars, and soon increased. All went well till the end
of the first month; but when the time came for the sec-
ond payment every child was absent. It was soon evident
that no one woifld pay for the education of girls, and that
the school must either be free or close. So the former
course was adopted, and the scholars came back, but the
attendance was most uncertain. Anything served as an
excuse for staying away; regular classes were impossible,
and most parents only wanted the girls to learn needle
work, and had no patience to wait for them to learn that
properly.
The school led an uncertain existence for over two
years, and then was brought to an end in a time of
persecution, the children being threatened and struck.
The cause of this persecution was not connected with the
school, but with the missionaries' household. Village
youths had been taken to be trained as servants, and from
the very first a Bible lesson had been given to them daily.
Before long one of them declared his belief in Christ, and
asked for baptism. He was only about seventeen years
of age, and though poor was connected with important
people, including the head-man of the village, and several
sheikhs. His relations were furious at the idea of one of
their name becoming a Christian, and set to work to pre-
vent his doing so by every means in their power. The
young fellow was taken out of the missionaries' service,
kicked, beaten and spit upon, and when none of these
things moved him from his purpose, thrown into prison;
he was released for want of any proof against him; for
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK 291
though there were about forty witnesses, their witness
agreed not together. He went to Cairo for a time, and
then came home, and his father asked the missionaries to
take him back into their house. They consented, on con-
dition that his father would let him be free in respect of
religion. This, however, did not please the other rela-
tions, and one of them, a middle-aged man of very bad
character, led the way in making fresh trouble.
The closing of the school had made it necessary to
decide on some other line of work, and clear guidance had
been given in that respect. Children had so often come
to school suffering from sore eyes and slight illness, that
it was found well to have always on hand some eyedrops
and simple medicines, by which many were cured. When
the mothers heard of this, they came begging for treat-
ment for themselves and their babies, and before long
there was a daily gathering for a Bible lesson, and med-
ical treatment with simple remedies — Epsom salts and
olive oil.
Getting girls to school was difficult, but it was plain
that not only they but the grown up women would come
of their own accord to a dispensary. So it was ar-
ranged that the younger missionary should take three
months' training at Old Cairo Hospital, while the older
held the fort with the help of a friend, who came to stay
with her just when the opposition, and the determination
to get the young convert into trouble, was at its height.
Efforts were made to boycott the missionaries, the bad man
already mentioned placing watchers near their door to
frighten any who wished to get in, a beautiful donkey was
cruelly poisoned, and the crash of falling glass was heard
night after night as stones or clods of earth were thrown
through the windows. At last it became necessary to in-
form the police in the nearest town and an official came
to make enquiry, but that very night the two ladies were
poisoned by the supper that they ate at home. The plot
was soon evident. The candidate for baptism had cooked
^92 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the supper, and the poor lad, who was much attached to
his mistress, found himself arrested on the charge of at-
tempting to murder her. Although everyone was prac-
tically certain who had committed the crime, the real
criminal was never brought to justice, while the innocent
youth was kept in prison for two months, tried, dismissed,
arrested, and tried a second time, and when finally dis-
charged, banished from the district by the order of a
local official. He found work in Cairo, and after two
years was conscripted, and put into the guards, where he
made a splendid Christian stand, besides showing himself
a fine soldier. He might have remained in the army for
life, but his baptism proved a bar to promotion, and he is
now at work in a large garage in Cairo. After the pois-
oning, the mission house was closed for six months, the
ladies not being allowed to stay there while the investi-
gations were going on, and the one who had been poisoned
being unfit for work. When they came back after their
long absence they found a great change of feeling. The
crime that had been committed had disgusted people who
might have been glad to get rid of the Christians by any
reasonable means ; others were anxious to show that they
had no connection with the affair, and some were truly
friendly, and rejoiced that the evil attempt had failed.
So there was welcome on all sides, and God turned the
evil to good to such an extent that the work recommenced
under new and favorable conditions.
It would take too long to give any particular account
of the succeeding years, so it will be best to pass over them
entirely, and look at the present state of their little mis-
sion station. The dispensary for women and children,
open three times a week, is an established institution, and
draws patients from several villages within a radius of a
few miles, and a large visiting connection has thus been
made. The method of work is certainly off the beaten
track, indeed the name dispensary is a misnomer, for noth-
ing is dispensed at all. No medicines are taken away.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK 293
Doses are administered on the spot, sores of all kinds
treated, and bad burns and scalds receive careful atten-
tion. No charge is made. This way of working insures
very frequent attendance on the part of many, and the
hearing of a far greater number of Bible lessons than
would be heard by patients attending a dispensary carried
on on ordinary lines. The name of Christ is now quite
familiar, and numbers of women show an intelligent in-
terest in the teaching. The servants' Bible class has be-
come a regular meeting, commencing each evening
throughout the winter, a quarter of an hour after sunset,
and attended by from thirty to fifty boys and young men,
ages often varying from six to twenty-six years. Lantern
meetings are held weekly; the slides on the birth of Christ
being shown in Christmas week, and the course ending
with the pictures of the resurrection and ascension. At
these meetings the room is often too small for the would-
be hearers.
The first convert has long been a baptized Christian,
and although this is known to the whole village, he comes
from time to time for a holiday, and does not experience
any danger of bodily harm, though the relations try to
bribe him to return to the Mohammedan religion. He
no longer stands alone; two other young men have been
admitted as candidates for baptism and others are likely
to follow very soon. The tone of the village has ceased
to be entirely Mohammedan, and some of the people
themselves have been heard to say that a change for the
better has taken place since the missionaries came.
In conclusion we would draw attention to some special
advantages in a small station such as that described.
First, there is the intimate connection with the villagers
about ordinary affairs of daily life. The missionaries do
not live in a large institution; their house is only superior
to those of the better class farmers in its more comfortable
arrangements and greater cleanliness, and in many ways
their interests are the same as those of their neighbors.
294 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Interviews about common matters give opportunity for
moral and even spiritual teaching.
Secondly, the work is general. Although carried on
by only two ladies, and no missionary paid assistants other
than servants, it reaches men, women and children.
Thirdly, no highly trained specialists are needed. A little
knowledge of medicine, teaching, experience in visiting,
can all be used to good purpose, and the work can be de-
veloped along the lines for which the workers are most
fitted.
Lastly, a station of this kind is one of the cheapest forms
of missionary effort. Given a couple of little houses, or
one good sized house, with rooms set apart for schools,
dispensary and meetings, and the living allowance of two
missionaries, the expenses are small, very small if the
variety of work be taken into consideration.
When village stations are dotted all over the Delta, a
great step will have been made in the evangelization of
Egypt, and it will be reasonable to look for a mass move-
ment toward Christianity.
Shubra Zanga, Egypt. M. Cay.
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS
The Policy o£ Assimilation in French Colonies
According to The United Ernpire, France has adopted a new policy
in regard to her North African possessions: "In Indo-China as in West
Africa France looks for big things, ethnical, economic, and political, but
her principal effort as colonizer and civilizer is in Northern Africa, as
every one knows who has had the opportunity of studying her enterprise
overseas. One of the chief problems of her administration in Algeria is
the 'assimilation' of the native Arab and Berber populations within the
circle of French civilization. A very vigorous attack upon the policy of
'assimilation' has been made by Professor Louis Vignon, who is strongly
opposed to the recent large extension of municipal franchise in Algeria,
and as strongly in favour of the policy of 'protection' as practiced in the
British Colonies, and in certain French possessions other than Algeria.
The problem at present is essentially one connected with that country,
because both Tunisia and Morocco are under a different system of ad-
ministration, and the policy of 'assimilation' has not been carried so far.
The latest manifestation of this policy is the formation of a society, called
Le Comite Bugeaud, after the well-known Governor of that name. The
main object of the society is to increase the French population of North-
ern Africa by the continuous introduction of new colonists, and in this
manner to hasten the completion of the policy of 'assimilation,' by which
the preponderating native element is gradually to be Gallicised and
brought entirely under the social and educative influence of the French."
Old Intolerance Toward Christian and Jew
We are often assured by educated Moslems of the present day, that
the treatment of Christian and Jew in Turkey for all these centuries was
one of tolerance, and that the minorities lived in peace with their Moslem
neighbours. The Near East for November 24th produces some evidence
to the contrary based on an historical document.
"In what the Turks no doubt regard as the happier days of a century
ago non-Moslem subjects of the Sultan met with scant respect from the
Faithful during their lives; and when they were unfortunate — or for-
tunate! — enough to shuflle off this mortal coil, Moslem scorn still pur-
sued them. When such an one died it was necessary to obtain special
authorization to bury him in Turkish soil ; and this had to be procured
by the Church, or head of the religion to which he had belonged. It
would be thought that such permission would be accorded in terms free
from offense, but in point of fact the representatives of the Padishah
seem to have gone out of their way in order to make them as brutal as
possible. Below we give specimens of such authorizations, translated
from the Turkish of three actual letters issued by the authorities, sanc-
tioning the burial of an Orthodox Christian, of an Armenian, and of a
Jew, respectively. These were discovered by a correspondent, among
some treasured souvenirs of an old Constantinople family. They contain
expressions which are highly objectionable; but we reproduce them, in
295
296 THE MOSLEM WORLD
order that our readers may be able to estimate more correctly the spirit
which actuated the Trcud Osmanlee' of those days, and which is doubt-
less responsible for much of the hatred felt for him to-day by the peoples
who were formerly under his rule.
"It will be observed that the date of the Letter of Authority to the
Armenian Priest is missing; but our correspondent informs us that the
letter may be regarded as having been written at about the same time as
the other two, or between the vears in the Turkish Calendar n 223- 1239
(A. D. 1 808-1 824).
"The following are translations from the three letters:
"To the Greek Priest. — Oh! Thou, whose cloak is as black as the
devil, and whose garment is the colour of tar, detestable monk, fat, filthy,
and crafty priest, who art deprived of the grace of the Holy Jesus Christ,
take notice :
"Authorization has been accorded to dig a grave and to hurl inside, the
repulsive putrid flesh (which even the earth shrinks from) of the infidel
Constantin, who belonged to thy race and has just died. — Le 21 Chaban
1223.
"To the Armenian Priest. — Thou who wearest the crown of the
devil, who art clothed with a garment of the colour of tar, fat, cunning,
and filthy priest, and deprived of the divine pardon, here is the object of
our present communication :
"The infidel, Kirkor, who belonged to the detestable herd that consti-
tutes thy filthy race, has just died. It is true that the earth does not wish
to have this pig's carcase ; but in order to prevent its stink from infesting
the Mussulman quarter, I order thee to dig a grave immediately, to
throw it inside, and to beat down, without ceasing, the earth with which
thou shalt cover up this blasphemous pig's hole.
"To the Jew^s. — O thou. Rabbi of the traitorous nation, which denies
the coming of Jesus Christ, and does not recognize Holy Moses, take
notice :
"One of the individuals of the encumbering herd of thy community
established at Salonika has just rendered his soul to the pitiless devil, and
thus plunged it into the flames of Hell.
"The venerable Chery authorizes thee, traitorous Rabbi, to find, some-
where, a latrine, w^hich you will fill by throwing into it his stinking
carcase. — Le 15 Redjeb, 1239."
The Influence of the Open Bible.
Ahmet is an educated young Turk about thirty years of age, who for-
merly served as a sub-lieutenant in the Turkish Army. Today he is a
Christian, and he owes his conversion under God's mercy to the Turkish
editions of the Scriptures exhibited in the window of our Society's depot
at Athens.
While serving in the Turkish Army in Asia Minor he had been for
years an unwilling witness of many atrocities on Armenians. The bar-
barities committed by Turkish officers, he says, were terrible: many of
their commands he could not bring himself to carry out, and he was able
to save not a few Armenians from death. Finally he deserted, and
reached Smyrna, then occupied by Greek troops. It was considered un-
safe for him to remain there, so the Greek Governor sent him to Athens,
where he obtained a temporary position in the police force.
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 297
About six months later he chanced one day to pass the Bible Society's
depot, and became arrested by the Turkish editions displayed in its win-
dow. He went inside and bought an Injil (Gospel) , and after reading it
came back for a New Testament. This he read carefully, and brought
many questions for Mr. Sirinides, our depositary, to answer. Then- he
purchased a Turkish Bible. Finally he told Mr. Sirinides that the Bible,^
like a mirror, had shown him what he was — a miserable sinner. A1-'
though he had taken no part in the atrocities, he had committed many
sins. He had been a gambler and a drunkard. Three times he had at-
tempted suicide, but each time was miraculously saved. Now he had
found Him Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
For awhile Ahmet held a post on the staff of Venizelos ; but when the
change of Government took place at Athens he was thrown into prison
by the victorious political party. He had with him, however, his Bible,
and he read to his fellow-prisoners stories of other captives — of Peter and
Paul and Silas. Before long he was released from prison, but without
being allowed entire freedom ; at this time, moreover, he was quite with-
out means of support.
When his father heard of Ahmet's interest in Christianity, he refused
to have anything further to do with his son. This gave great sorrow to
Ahmet. However, he was strong in faith and rejoiced to have found the
way of salvation. In January, 192 1, he made a good confession and was
baptized at Athens in the Greek Presbyterian Church. Soon after this
he accepted a position in an American school, where he is now teaching
Turkish. His great desire and hope is to take a theological course and
preach the Gospel to his own race. In a recent letter to Mr. Sirinides he
blesses the day when he saw the Word of God in our depot window. —
Bible Society Report.
The Bible in Persia
The following paragraphs are taken from colporteurs* reports and
show how the Bible is winning its way in Persia: "A young Persian
made the following statements when our colporteur offered him our edi-
tions: 'I have the Gospel of St. Luke, which I have read several times,
and it has so disturbed by mind that I have decided not to read it again.
I am sure that if I continue to read it I shall leave my religion and be-
come a Christian.' An elderly sayid^ i. e. a descendant of the Prophet
Mohammed, invited a colporteur into his shop, and after examining his
books bought five portions of the Old and New Testaments. Another
Moslem expressed surprise that a sayid should buy Christian books ; but
the sayid reproved him, saying: 'You know not what treasure the books
contain. For a long time I have desired to get them, and I must not miss
this chance.' When the colporteur spoke to him of Christ, he gave an
attentive ear. At Teheran, near to the Shah's palace, I offered my books
to a man who was standing in front of a tea shop. For reply, I received
a hard blow in the face. The people in the tea shop expected me to re-
turn the blow, but to their surprise they saw a smile on my face instead.
Thereupon some of them came to me, and brought me into the tea shop
to ask the reason of my unnatural behaviour. I said that it was an
honour to be persecuted for my Master's sake, and I went on to tell them
about the nature of our mission. They appeared impressed, and bought
six copies of the Gospel.
298 THE MOSLEM WORLD
"Three mullahs were sitting together in a tea shop when I showed
them my books. One of them had a Koran in his hand and said that the
Injeel had been taken up into heaven, and that the Gospel we now had
was not the genuine Injeel. *On what authority do you say this?' I
asked. 'On the authority of the Koran,' replied the mullah. 'But there
is nothing in the Koran that corresponds with your statement,' I said.
'Well, if I can prove it to you, you must become a Moslem; and if I fail,
I will become a true Christian,' suggested the mullah, '^Thereupon he
began to turn the pages of his Koran, stopping here and there to read
some passage which he thought might support his assertion. But after
a time, as he failed to find anything to the point, I asked him to turn to
the Suras (i. e. sections) 'El Bakara' and 'El Maida,' and to read certain
verses therein, which state that the Koran confirms and safeguards the
Scriptures. The mullahs were surprised that I should know anything of
their book. After the mullah had altogether failed to produce his prom-
ised text from the Koran, I asked him if he would become a Christian —
but he bent his head and remained silent."
"The Moslem Sunrise" — at Detroit
The first magazine published by Moslems in the English language to
enlighten the spiritual darkness of those who dwell in the Middle West,
bears the title of The Moslem Sunrise. This quarterly represents the
Ahmadiya Movement, and is edited by Dr. Mufti Mohammed Sadiq.
The January number contains a new year greeting, and prayer for all its
readers, followed by a transliteration and translation of Sura 31, vs. 13-
20. These thirteen Commandments of Luqman to his son are supposed
to be the high-water-mark of ethics. There follow some sayings of the
Master-Prophet Mohammed, some of which are apocryphal, or at least
require an explanatory note ; e. g. "That which is lawful but most de-
tested by God is Divorce." An Australian Moslem, who has resided in
the United States, tells how "prohibition is prohibited" in the United
States and in the course of his article Jesus Christ is spoken of not only
as a "wine-drinker," but a "wine-maker" :
"The Gospels represent Jesus not only as using wine but also as mak-
ing it (in this all the brewers are more Christ-like than is credited to
them). And this is the supreme difficulty which the Christians have to
contend with in all attempts to uproot the evil. This is perhaps the rea-
son that all efforts in this direction have signally failed. The difficulty
would not have been so great if the Christian Scriptures had assumed
silence on this question."
What interests us most is the account given of active propagandism.
We read of large meetings addressed by Moslem leaders, subscriptions to
the funds of the Movement, reports of circular letters sent to all the
universities and colleges, and a list of converts who have changed their
good American names, and embraced Islam. A "Rainbow Club" has
been organized, to introduce people of different nationalities to this
Movement and to each other. A young Moslem lady in England writes:
"I should so love to communicate with either a brother or sister of
Islam in America, as I think this is one way of keeping the Brother and
Sisterhood of Islam together."
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 299
The Moon and Its Cleavage
The well-known obscure verse concerning the cleaving of the moon in
the Koran, which is perhaps a quotation from the pre-Islamic poet 'Imr
al-Qais, has served its purpose for many centuries as an evidence of Mo-
hammed's miraculous power. His great miracle given in the Koran was
that of splitting the moon. It remained for Dr. Khalifa Rashid-ud-Din,
L. M. S., retired Civil Asst. Surgeon, to discover a scientific proof of this
miracle, and lay it before the readers of the Review of Religions (No-
vember, 1 921). We quote: "In a recent photo of the moon I noticed
marks of a great cleavage in its body which seems to have occurred some
centuries before. It is in the form of a groove or fissure near the volcano
named Plato by the astronomers. Dr. Ivin Sickles explains it by sup-
posing that it may have been produced by the surface of the moon being
cleft through by a huge aerolite passing over it during its transit through
space, but others think it to have been made by an earthquake, i. e., a
moonquake.
"In this religious paper I do not like to go minutely into the intricacies
of the sciences of geology and astronomy. It is a common knowledge that
the moon was a very hot body in the first instance and that its crust or
surface has cooled down very rapidly on a hot interior causing much
shrinkage of the surface. This resulted in the great volcanoes whose
craters are plainly visible by means of a telescope. It is also well known
that the volcanic neighbourhood is a constant scene of earthquakes, as
we know is generally the case with Japan, Java and Italy to a lesser ex-
tent. It cannot be doubted then that similar phenomena may have oc-
curred in the moon and caused this cleavage. In the Holy Koran there
is a mention of such an occurrence in the time of the Holy Prophet of
Arabia (peace be on him). The verse wherein this fact is mentioned
runs thus: 'the precise hour has approached and the moon has cleft
asunder.' The observation of the above is also recorded in the tradition
which gives even the names of the persons who in conjunction with the
prophet (peace be on him) happened to observe this wonderful happening.
"That such occurrences do take place and are a regular feature of
these heavenly bodies nobody can deny. The activities of radium are
now being discovered and there is no doubt that radium has very much
to do with these occurrences. In the island of Kishan near Bundar Abbas
in the Persian Gulf in 1898 I observed deep and long rents after a very
severe earthquake. There was a great devastation in the island, big
houses and mansion being levelled to the ground and the inhabitants ren-
dered homeless."
Idealising Islam
In the bi-monthly organ published by the Bureau d'Information
Islamique at Paris, (24 Rue Taitbout,) and entitled Echos de V Islam,
we find not only political news and propagandism in favour of Pan-
Islam, but special pleading regarding the character of Mohammedanism.
In the number for December last, for example, Alfred Jacques writes
that Islam is the doctrine of peace and love for the whole world. The
leaders of Islam, he says, are nothing else than an incarnation of holy
teaching that has passed from the early centuries to the present. Angora
has become the symbol of a revived Islam, and Mustafa Kemal is its
chief apostle. France is vitally interested in the development of all
6
300 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Islamic movements. French diplomacy should seek to win the confidence
of Moslems, and he concludes his article as follows :
"II est passe le temps des vastes croisades, le temps des heresies et des
propagandes haineuses et exclusives; il est passe le temps des inquisitions.
Qu'on ne commence pas contre I'lslam une ere d'intolerance!
''L'Islam a dote le monde de quelques-uns de ses plus beaux joyaux;
le Coran malgre les exagerations que certains ont bon droit de critiquer,
reste un des livres les plus sains, les plus substantiels et les plus attrayants.
"Qu'on regarde I'Alcazar de Seville, les minarets de Stamboul, et qu'on
vienne dire que I'lslam n'a rien cree, n'a rien produit! Qu'on etudie
I'activite des peuples mediterraneens, la civilisation des peuples de
rOrient et qu'on vienne affirmer que les musulmans sont passifs et
steriles !
"Qu'on approfondisse la foi en elle-meme objectivement! Qu'on la
repousse si Ton veut, car on n'a pas le droit d'imposer une foi a quelqu'un,
mais qu'on ait I'elementaire bonne foi d'en reconnaitre ^'elevation
et la purete.
"La base mcme de I'lslam est une base d'amour. Et ce qui est base sur
I'amour est indestructible et vivace!"
Hodeida Before and After the War
Lieut.-Commander C. Crawford, R.N., who had full opportunity of
studying conditions during and since the war, sends some interesting
notes on Hodeida to the Monthly Record of the Geographical Society:
"The place has, he says, changed greatly since it passed out of Turkish
hands as a result of the war. Although mentioned as a port in the old
Arab histories, Hodeida was probably little more in those days than a
fishing village, and no traces of an old town remain on the present site.
Possibly the ancient Hodeida lay some twenty miles further south near
the outlet of the Wadi Saham and near the Khor Ghuleifaka, which
would afford shelter for dhows, and was a flourishing harbour in still
earlier Arab history. The present town was founded by the Turks, with
no thought of its suitability or otherwise as a harbour. It lies near the
centre of a small bay, an open roadstead fouled with submerged coral
reefs, and unprotected from the strong southerly gales of the prevailing
wind. From northerly winds it is fairly well protected by Ras Zedia,
a coral spit which terminates in Ras el Khetib. In spite of its disad-
vantages, Hodeida under the Turks became a flourishing little port serv-
ing as the main outlet for the richest province of Southern Arabia. To
the north lay palm groves and gardens, while level sandy roads — all that
was required for camel transport — ran out some thirty miles to the north
and northeast, and to the ancient Zebid in the south. A few rulers have
motor cars and some of the municipalities own a few dust-carts and
water-carts, mostly camel-drawn. In the desire to move with the times
the Turks consulted with European advisers, who pointed to the ad-
vantages of Ras el Khetib as a port and the possibility of connecting it
with Hodeida by a railway. This idea soon developed into the more
ambitious scheme for a line into the interior which should eventually
reach Sanaa by the cool highlands of Menakha. Such a line was actually
begun, but shared the fate of many other Turkish undertakings. Funds
ran short, labour was not available to unload the cargoes of rails (some
of which were therefore dumped into the sea), and, to provide the pay
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 301
for the Turkish troops guarding the line from raiders, the sleepers were
torn up and sold for building material or firewood. During the war
Hodeida suffered many light bombardments from British war vessels and
one severe punishment, which was borne with true Turkish stoicism.
The place has since passed into the hands of the Seyidt Idrissi, one of the
most enlightened rulers of the whole peninsula, and under beneficent
Arab control is rapidly recovering from the ravages of war. Barbed
wire fencing has been erected (sufficient to discourage Bedouin raiders)
with three gates provided with customs stations. That on the north com-
mands the caravan route from the Wadi Bajil; another, on the east, that
which brings down the produce of Wadi Buraa and Jebel Roma ; and a
third, on the south, that from the Wadi Saham and the rich El Absij^a
country. Already the bazaars are refilling, traders are returning, and
when the world's shipping recovers its forces, the place will be found
ready for overseas trade. It is a charming Eastern town, full of quaint
byways, but in its present condition answers little to pre-war descriptions.
Owing to the spread of Idrissi influence it is at present incorrect to assign
the place to Yemen. Commander Crawford is at present the only
European resident in Asir, an interior district north of Hodeida."
The Position in Armenia
Emily J. Robinson writing in the Christian East makes a strong plea
on behalf of the Armenians in view of their present plight. In spite of
all the promises made by the British Government since the fall of
Baghdad, the condition of the Armenians has gone from bad to worse.
Armenians staked their all in the war when they threw in their lot
with the Allies. Two hundred and seventy thousand Armenian troops
fought on the various fronts; of these, 60,000 have been killed or maimed
for life. Several thousand prisoners of war were killed by the Turks.
Over a million helpless Armenians were killed by order of their Turkish
rulers, while 500,000 were deported to desert regions, also by order.
Every war-stricken country in Europe is enable to work at the recon-
struction of its homes and economic life. Armenia alone remains in the
throes of starvation, distress, and epidemics, and still suffers the horrors
of war because of her loyalty to the cause of the Entente.
In less than five months the Government of Erivan has fallen five
times, and there is nothing to prevent this from going on indefinitely,
or so long as Soviet Russia persists in thrusting a form of government on
the Armenian Republic which is distasteful to her people. The economic
state of the country could hardly be worse. Owing to the lack of oil and
other fuel there are no means of transport. Industry of every kind is at
a standstill, as there are no materials, no machinery, no credit to purchase
any. There is no postal communication with the world outside. Food is
at famine prices — only the comparatively rich ever get enough; deaths
from starvation and exposure have occurred by the thousand ; clothing is
unprocurable, save the small quantity which has been sent by foreign
relief agencies.
More than two and a half years after the Armistice, over a quarter of a
million Armenians, who fled from their homes in Turkish Armenia in
191 4-1 5 to save their lives, who have been forced ever since to dwell on
overcrowded, insanitary areas, wanting every necessary of life, harried
from one spot to another by the terrors of Turkish invasions, are still
unable to return to their homes, these being in the possession of Turks.
302 THE MOSLEM WORLD
There can be no peace till Armenia's boundaries are fixed. After
referring the matter of an Armenian mandate to the League of Nations
and then setting the League's authority at naught, the Supreme Council
asked Mr. Wilson, ex-President of the United States, to delineate the
boundaries of Armenia. Provision was made in the Peace Treaty by
which all contracting parties agreed to accept President Wilson's decision
as binding. When, after careful study of the problem, Mr. Wilson
traced the boundaries of Armenia in accordance with the ethnographic,
national, and economic requirements of the new Armenian State, the
Supreme Council threw his decision to the winds as "unpractical," and
referred the matter back to the League of Nations, which is evidently
under the control of the Supreme Council and has no authority of its
own! How much longer will the victorious Powers continue to voice
the reply of Cain as regards Armenia: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
We are often reminded that England is a great Mohammedan Power,
but England w^as a great Christian Power long before she had any Mo-
hammedan subjects. The latter have no cause for complaint, nor would
any self-respecting Moslem in India or elsewhere dream of protesting
against the redemption of Armenians from their age-long persecutors.
It is not by deserting the cause of her Christian Allies, whom she is
pledged to protect, that England will gain the confidence of anyone in
the East or West either.
Opium in Egypt
Not only is the cultivation of opium steadily increasing in Upper
Eg\'pt, but its use has developed to startling proportions. The Egyptian
Gazette speaks of a sensational drug traffic, and the facts disclosed by the
custom-house reports of last j^ar are ominous. During January-Novem-
ber, 1920, 441,857 grammes of opium, valued at LE.2,393 were im-
ported into Egypt; during the same period in 1921 the total had grow^n
to 6,352,725 grammes, valued at LE.28,338. Such conditions call for
reform, and we hope that not only the Eg>^ptian press but the British
government at home will protest against an evil which has reached such
alarming proportions. As the Egyptian Gazette remarks, the fate of the
nation is being undermined in the insidious traffic of this unhealthy drug,
and unless some stern repressive measures are decided upon and put into
execution, the country will be ruined.
Superstition Regarding Child-Birth in Egypt
A correspondent in the Cairo press speaks of the following superstition
current in the Delta :
"Volumes might be filled with customs which are commonly practiced
today by the Eg>^ptian fellaheen, and by others who, if education is to
count, should be wiser than the simpler folk who can knew no better.
"A Protestant Evangelist was one morning shaving in a room where
his wife was lying nursing a new-born babe. A Moslem lady friend came
into the room and was fearfully concerned when she saw what he was
doing. She declared that as a result of his action his wife would bear no
more children to him. He laughed and said he was prepared to face the
consequences. Not many days later the child died. Two years or so pass-
ed away and although he and his wife both hoped for children they were
distressed bv their non-arrival. Another Moslem woman in answer to
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 303
the Evangelist's wife's account of her disappointment said it was perhaps
because the first baby had been buried upside down, meaning that it had
been laid in the grave on its face, a sure and certain sign that its mother
would bear no more children. When listening to his wife's complaint
afterwards the Evangelist assured her that he had seen the babe laid in
the tomb the right way up !
"It is also believed that if a man goes from a barber's shop where he
has just had his hair cut into the presence of a woman who is nursing a
baby under seven days old, the mother will be rendered barren. The
same evil results from taking meat fresh from the market into the pres-
ence of a mother with her newly born babe. Jewels of gold, too, have
the same ill effect.
"Cures for sterility are as grotesque as the possible causes. Although
in many of these causes we can see indications of a wisdom which exists
to guard the mother against forms of mischief against which she is help-
less in her delicate condition. After the interval of seven days after child-
birth she is supposed to be immune from all such evils. A very common
custom against sterility is to take the unhappy woman out very early in
the morning w^hen the dew is on the fields, and make her walk over
growing crops. Some years ago a report in these columns stated that two
women had gone to a slaughterhouse in order to step over freshly shed
blood because they believed that this would enable them to bear children.
The power of blood is shown in many other magical customs.
"Women fearing divorce because of their inability to present their hus-
bands with offspring often go secretly to the tombs and step over the
bones or bodies that lie there. Sometimes they will travel seven times
across a canal or the river in a boat for the same purpose. Others prefer
to ascend a Minaret carrying in their right hand an egg. They then
walk seven times around the balcony whence the Muezzin calls the
Faithful to prayer, and on completion of the seventh circuit, throw the
egg violently to the ground."
The Institut Musulman de Paris
We glean the following facts from the Afrique Frangaise^ regarding
a project the French Government has in hand of starting a Moslem
college and mosque as well as a hostel, with the purpose of providing a
"home from home" for Moslems residing or passing through the capital,
as a mark of her esteem and good fellow^ship. The idea, we are in-
formed, was first launched in 1895 by a committee including Prince
d'Arenberg, Messrs. Jules Cambon, Percher and others, but only ma-
terialized in August last, when the government passed a bill for 500,000
francs towards the project. The Societe des Habous des Lieux Saints de
Tlslam has been appointed to carry out the project, under the direction
of a strong committee, under the presidency of M. Herriot, Mayor of
Lyon, Mr. Rober-Raynaud (ex-minister) Secretary. Messrs. Deville,
Municipal Councillor, Lucien Hubert, Senator, Maurice Raynaud,
Deputy, and Beaumarchais, Director of the Foreign Office, were nomi-
nated vice presidents. Other names are also mentioned. Algeria, Tunis
and Rabat have contributed largely to the support of this project, and
the site chosen is that of the old Hopital de Pitie, which, we are in-
formed, is within the vicinity of the "quartier des ficoles" in Paris. St.
Kaddour ben Ghabbrit gives a long account of the aims and objects of
304 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the Institute, which promises to provide its library with the **most
precious books of Islam as well as the masterpieces of occidental litera-
ture." To the artists of France she will offer the art of the Arabs, the
Turks and the Persians in carpets, leather and brass work, and the won-
derful furnishing of the mosque proposed, for which last purpose the
committee intends to search among the treasures of Fez, Tunis, Da-
mascus and Anatolia. With regard to the architecture he says: "II
representera, dans la pierre, I'edifice durable de I'amitie de la France
pour rislam, et dira qu'au dela des religions differentes et trop longtemps
opposees, le liberalisme frangais a permis aux mahometans de I'Afrique
comme a ceux de I'Orient de venir librement prendre place au foyer
protecteur. Et pour I'lslam il dira sa fidelite, son attachment."
Islam and Civilization
The Orientalist Professor Flinders Petrie, writing in the Yale Review
on "The Outlook for Civilization," speaks of Islam as follows:
"Recently there have been many shuddering glances at the possible
rivalry of the black races with Europe, or of Islam. There may be risks
of destruction by violence from those sources, if Europe is foolish enough
to wreck itself internally ; but it does not seem likely that either of those
groups could beat the brain power of Europe.
"Islam, at least in its present form, has too great a drain on its growth
of mind in the memorizing of the Koran mechanically. This atrophies
the reasoning power; and the type of this sacred book does not favour
clear or logical thinking. Of the principal sacred books the Koran
is below others in its lack of system, its wandering, casual changes of sub-
ject, and its sameness of ideas. It is the product of a people shifting
about continually in an arid country.
"The Mahabharata, for example, is far above it in vigour of thought,
continuity, and development of character in its persons. It is most nearly
on the level of the Iliad in its structure. Many passages of the Vedas
show even more moral beauty and delicate perception. The sacred books
of China may rank higher in thought, and the logical basis of principles
with which to fortify the resolutions; but to other races more personality
would appeal more strongly.
"The Jew has transcended them all in the Bible, whether in simple
magnificence of narrative, vigour of composition, the moral earnestness
of the Prophets, or the spiritual vision of the Apostles. Where we
western gentiles stand in the production of religious literature it is hard
to see, for we have done nothing but copy. The type of ideals shown by
what is revered suggests that Islam will never surpass the activities of
India, China, or Jewry. The great intolerance of Mohammedanism,
and the lower position accorded in law and practice to women, will al-
ways be a bar to its surpassing in civilization the races of other creeds
that have been named."
A Martyred Translator
The Kurds, who are believed to number about 3,000,000 souls, dwell
mainly in Kurdistan, a region which stretches from Kharput in Asia
Minor to Kermanshah in Persia. The Kurdish language, which de-
scends from an old Persian vernacular, has several modern dialects.
Kurmanji, the most important dialect, is spoken by some 2,000,000 peo-
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 305
pie in the northern districts of Kurdistan. In 1856-7 our Society printed
in Armenian character a version of the four Gospels in this Kurmanji
dialect as spoken in and round Kharput. In 1872 the American Bible
Society issued at Constantinople the complete New Testament in the
same form of Kurdish. In igm the A. B. S. issued a revised Kurmanji
translation of the four Gospels and Acts, the books being printed in
Armenian character.
Acting on the suggestion of the American missionaries at Urumia, our
Society in 191 7 set aside £150 towards the expense of preparing a re-
vised New Testament in Kurmanji. For this purpose the missionaries
enlisted the services of a learned Kurd, named Mirza Mullah Sayid, who
belonged to Nochea, in the centre of the Kurmanji country, but was then
living as a refugee at Urumia. He took as the basis of his revision a
Kurmanji version of the New Testament, which had been originally
prepared by Dr. Alexander Yohanna, and afterwards purchased in manu-
script by the A. B. S.
The American missionaries esteemed Mirza Mullah Sayid as a very
able scholar, with a good knowledge of Persian, Arabic, and Turkish, as
well as Kurdish. A Moslem by birth, he was led to embrace the Chris-
tian faith as a result of the close study of the Gospels which his task
demanded. In the early summer of 1918 he had completed the Gospels
and Acts; but his further progress became delayed, because he was com-
pelled to act as interpreter to a body of Armenian troops. When the
Christians fled from Urumia on July 31, 19 18, Mirza Mullah Sayid
and all his family were killed by the Moslems, on account of his having
become a Christian. The manuscript of his revision of the Gospels and
Acts had been entrusted to the care of Dr. Packard of the American
Mission. After surviving more than one outbreak of disorder, this
manuscript finally disappeared on May 24, 19 19, when the missionaries'
houses at Urumia were looted, and there appears to be no hope of its
recovery. Dr. Packard states that Mirza Mullah Sayid possessed ex-
ceptional qualities as a translator, and the work he had done in revising
the New Testament was spoken of in the highest terms by those capable
of judging it. Today his manuscript has perished, and his efforts to
present the Gospel more clearly to his fellow Kurds seem like water spilt
upon the ground; but he wins this shining testimony, that he has wit-
nessed a good confession and has entered the ranks of the noble army of
martyrs. — The Bible in the World.
India Asked to Help Morocco
The following item appeared in the Moslem Standard of London ap-
pealing for urgent medical relief on behalf of the Moroccan tribes who
are fighting for their independence :
Mr. M. H. Ispahani, in the course of a letter he addressed to Mr.
Chotani, President of the All-India Central Khilafat Committee, says he
has been greatly impressed with the great necessity that there is of doctors
and dressers to attend to the Moroccan Moslems, who are fighting for
their independence against Spanish aggression. "I strongly urge you to
call for volunteers from our brethren in India," says Mr. Ispahani. "We
do not want a hundred; two doctors and two dressers will be quite
enough. A certain quantity of dressing material and necessary medical
stores will also he required. I can do the needful here with a few hun-
3o6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
dred pounds and arrange for them to be delivered. You, of course,
realize that the Arabs of Morocco lead a rough-and-tumble life. They
have not hospitals in the accepted European sense. Our friends w^ill
therefore have to make up their minds to put up with a certain amount
of inconvenience for the sake of their religious convictions and also for
the sake of a nation that is struggling for its existence."
A Hindu Writer on the Khilafat
A sensible view of the present situation in India is that given by a
Hindu writer. We quote these paragraphs from The Servant of India:
The simple fact of the matter is that in a modern State there is no
room for any theocratic power such as the Khilafat stands for. In a
modern State such as India is today, and will be even more so tomorrow,
the right of every citizen to the free exercise of every religion, is one of
the fundamentals guaranteed by the State — a guarantee in the main-
tenance of which every citizen, 'qua' citizen, is interested. If there are
outrages committed in Malabar today, the participants are being appre-
hended by the forces of the Crown, by a State which is neutral in religion,
which does not care two straws about any religion as such, but which
cares very much about the mutilation of persons and the destruction of
property. The Dorset Regiment was not called in because they are
Christians, but because they are Crown forces. The abominable treat-
ment meted out by some of these Moplahs to Hindus is not being pun-
ished by an army of Hindus who as Hindus rush to the defense of their
co-religionists. If every aggrieved Moslem, instead of whistling for a
constable, can call in his Khalifa, every Hindu would certainly be en-
titled to call in a special Hindu Defense Corps, the Christian his crusad-
ing Knights, and we suppose now-a-days there would even have to be a
flying squadron of Zionist braves, ready at a moment's notice, to go to
the succour of any victim of an anti-semitic press attack. Really the idea
would be farcical, if it were not so grave. Mr. Gandhi and his Moslem
friends really must be made to realize that we are no longer living in the
Middle Ages. Feudal barons no longer keep their own armed guards for
swagger and protection, but have to go to common law for their rights.
Feudalism has gone; theocracy has gone. We believe it still exists today
in the one solitary case of Tibet: but India emphatically refuses to take
that country for its model.
The only possibility remaining is that Khilafat means the power of
Turkey to defend Islam in Its own borders. If that Is all it means,
everybody will accept it, only why should it be called Khilafat, seeing
that the right to his religion is the civic right of the citizen in every
modern country, and not in Turkey alone? If Mr. Gandhi and his
friends had called upon Indians to protest against the carving up of
another Asiatic Power, Turkey, to provide a holiday for western pa-
trioteers and profiteers against the breaking of solemn pledges; against
the over-reaching of western Imperialism gone mad in its endeavour to
swallow the whole East — would not every Indian have been able to
join him heartily in this protest, even today? But If any Indian so
joined him yesterday, believing that Khilafat meant nothing more, he
certainly can no longer do so today. The practical interpretation which
some Moplahs today have put on Khilafat has made that no longer pos-
sible. No Indian can now afFord to go on toying with the Khilafat. If
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 307
it has any meaning, it is one that is incompatible with any modern State ;
if it has no meaning — well, no need to preserve so misleading a label.
In either case let us be quite clear that India will have no more of it.
Hindu-Moslem friendship cannot be erected on the basis of making
Hindus adopt a Moslem religious tenet such as the Khilafat, any more
than on that of making Moslems adopt a Hindu religious tenet such as
reverence for the cow. Such friendship can only be brought about if
Hindus and Moslems meet, not on the religious but on the civic basis of
a common citizenship in a common motherland. It may have seemed a
politically clever move to exploit a common hatred by harnessing a
religious enthusiasm to it, we know now that the latter is as likely to turn
against its ally as against its foe. Let us all realize that it has been the
greatest blunder ever made by an Indian statesman to re-admit religion
into politics under the cry of a Khilafat wrong. — The Servant of India.
An Indian Moslem on Britain and the Khalifat
Sheikh M. H. Kidwai of Gadia, Bara Banki, India, writes in The
Manchester Guardian explaining the reason why India has taken up the
boycott of Lancashire goods. He says, the Indians have two grievances.
They are said to form part of the British Empire, but they find that
their united voice in Imperial matters, which are of vital and sa-cred in-
terest to them, is ignored, while full weight is given to that of the
Colonies. They received a shocking instance of this in the peace settle-
ment after the World War.
While the Indians did all they could to discharge their duties when
the war was on, and poured out their blood and money to obtain victory
for England, when the time of settling the peace came, they were alto-
gether ignored, and the British Ministers preferred to satisfy the self-
aggrandizing desires of the Greeks, than the legitimate and selfless de-
mands of Indians. India is much more interested in Turkey than Russia
was in Serbia, England in Belgium, or the British Colonies are in the
Anglo-Japanese treaty. The internal peace of India and its immunity
from external trouble depend upon the friendship of India with Turkey,
i. e., Islam. It is the religious obligation of seventy-two millions of
India's children to see to it that the Moslem Khalifa remains an inde-
pendent and powerful sovereign so as to be fit for the honour of being
the Defender of their Faith, that his temporal position and kingdom is
preserved. At the time of the crisis, the Viceroy in India and the Min-
isters in England assured Moslems by solemn proclamations that "no
question of religion was involved in the war," that Moslem "Holy places
will be free from attack and molestation" and that the Khalifa "will con-
tinue to remain an independent sovereign, free from all non-Moslem
influences and control." In January, 19 18, Mr. Lloyd George definitely
and after consulting with the Dominions and the different parties gave
out a solemn pledge that the war was "not" fought "to deprive the Turks
of their capital in Constantinople or of the rich and renowned lands of
Thrace and Asia Minor." When the war ended these pledges and
proclamations were completely dishonoured and the most cherished feel-
ings of the Indian were wounded. Hindus, Moslems, Sikhs, moderaters,
extremists, loyalists, persons of different races, creeds and parties all
unitedly submitted memorial after memorial to the British Prime Min-
ister not to dishonour his own words, not to disregard the Moslem sacred
3o8 THE MOSLEM WORLD
sentiments, not to prefer the interests of Greece to the interests of the
British Empire. They spent thousands of pounds in sending deputations.
But not onlj' a deaf ear was turned to that, England played the most
prominent part in tearing up the Turkish Empire to pieces and in de-
priving the Turks of even Thrace and Smyrna, their acknowledged
"homelands." While France and Italy were ready to restore those home-
lands, England took upon herself to support the ambitions of Greece.
England further undertook to impose the rule of Zionists in Palestine
and of her own vassal in Mesopotamia. When Indians saw no other way
to have their grievances redressed they took to the movement called the
noncooperation movement. One stage of that is the boycott of British
goods. British authorities did not ignore and defy Indians in
the Muslim settlement alone. They inflicted most humiliating in-
dignities, and allowed the perpetration of most heinous cruelties on In-
dians themselves in their own country. The Punjab atrocities are well
known now all the world over and need not be described here. Those
barbarities have cut deep into the national honour of India, and they will
never be healed or forgiven until steps are taken to prevent them from
occurring again and until those responsible for them are dismissed from
the service of India and deprived of their pensions from the Indian
exchequer. Indians so far have failed to have the Punjab grievance re-
dressed and now the Hindus and Moslems have entered into a mutual
compact that neither will give up their agitation until both their griev-
ances have been satisfactorily removed.
The boycott of Lancashire goods has therefore been taken up by the
Hindus and Moslems of India to put pressure upon the British Ministers
and Government through the Lancashire voters to induce them to mete
out justice to India and satisfy the Indian demands. All the agitation in
India, which is becoming more and more serious, is due to the indiffer-
ence of the British Cabinet to the demands of India, and can be settled
in a day. Once the honour and position of India are reestablished, tariff
questions will not take long to be settled between Lancashire and India
to mutual advantage through reciprocal goodwill. But time is of great
value and immediate steps are necessary otherwise India will become an-
other Ireland.
Christ's Challenge to the Moslem Truthseeker
The Rev. N. L. Rockey, contributes the following on dealing with
Moslems :
If he is a truth-seeker, he is honest and from his reverence for his
own religion will revere Christ and seek to weigh any testimony about
Him, for he already believes the "Son of Mary" to be one of the greatest
of the Prophets.
If he is a truth seeker, — and such are legion, — he rather believes;
that the Gospel is a corrupted story of Jesus and His wonderful works.
But yet! since he can produce no better authenticated copy of the Injil
(gospel) he will be ready to test this for all it may be worth. If you can
get him to read the gospel with an inquiring mind, you are pretty sure to
win him for Christ, — but, mind you, he must have help in reading
AT the first. Matthew or Luke are best for him to begin on — and
then follow with the Acts. Leave John and Mark and the Epistles
for later reading. Be sure to have your Bible with you while you work
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 309
with him and handle it as a holy thing, — with something of the rev-
erence which the Moslem shows for the Koran, — an object that he will
never pound or use carelessly.
But what of the challenge? Use your Bible with the inquirer and
get him first to mark and digest to a certain extent Christ's own words.
1 suggest the following verses to inculcate reverence and desire for more
knowledge of Christ. Their challenge to the Truth-seeker is un-
answerable.
Preliminary: get into the spirit of worship: John 4: 23-24; Matt.
5:8; I Cor. 2: 14-16; next examine
Christ's own words : John 717; Rev. 3 : 20 ; Matt. 1 1 : 28-30 ;
John 15:7; John 7:37-39; compare John 20:22 with 15:26 and
16:13,15.
In other words, make it plain that he who approaches God in a de-
votional spirit seeking to know the truth about Christ, will certainly
find Him and His peace. James i : 5-6a.
The greatest care is needed in dealing with honest Moslem inquirers.
Their difficulties must be met but no Scripture should ever be offensively
applied to them. The foUow^ing are several of their chief errors to
which the Scriptures noted may be cautionsly applied.
I. Moslems deny the divinity of Christ, but yet reverence
Him as a great prophet: — God has given many revelations. There
must be one greatest; Heb. i : 1-2, an honest doubter does not cut away
the ground from beneath him by denying the fundamental proposition.
He accepts the theorem in Euclid to be true because others say that they
have proved it true; then he under the teacher seeks to reason up to
proving it for himself. As in Euclid so in religion: i John 4: 23, 13-15.
Note: John evidently knew — had proved, what he wrote about, e.g.,
2 John 7; I John 2: 22-23. Paul, a credible witness, spoke very posi-
tively: 2 Tim. i: 12; also 3: 1-5; Gal. 1:6-8; Read also Rev. 22:
18-19; John 5: 43-47; John 10: 30-38; Mark 15: 39; compare Matt.
16:16; 17:5; 2 Pet. 1:17-18. See also Luke 4:41; John 7:46;
Mark 14: 61-62. Note the occasion and consequences of this confession
and testimony.
II. Moslems honor tradition overmuch: Matt. 15:2-3, 8-9;
Mark 7: 8-13; Ps. 119:100; Job 15: 10; 32:6-9.
III. Moslems honor graves and relics almost to the point
OF idolatry: Matt. 23 : 29; Compare Josh. 4: 20-24 with Hos. 12: 11
and Amos 4: 4 viz., that Israel let their reverence for places grow into
idolatry. Also compare Numbers 21:6-9 with II Kings 18:4 where
they let a sacred relic become an idol. They were punished when they
let the Ark become a charm, a talisman, an object of confidence;
I Sam. 4:3, II. God hid Moses' grave that they might not reverence
it, and make it a place of pilgrimage, miracles, etc.: Deut. 34: 6. God
took Elijah for the same reason: II Kings 2: 15-18. Even the places
of the crucifixion, etc., are not known probably for the same reason.
IV. Moslems respect Maulvis and fathers almost to the
POINT OF worship: God forbids this: Num. 22:5-7; Mark 7:8-9;
John 4:12, 20; Acts 10:25-26; Acts 114: 8-18; Gal. 2:18; Matt.
4:110; Rev. 19:10; 22:8-9. The story of the context of these
texts should be briefly given, always emphasizing this point "the
entrance of thy word gives light," but it gives understanding only "to
the simple," i.e. the man of humble and contrite heart.
BOOK REVIEWS
A History of Persia. By Brigadier-General Sir Percy Sykes, in two
volumes with maps and illustrations. Second edition, Macmillan &
Co., Ltd. London. 1921. £3.10.0.
The second edition of this important and valuable work is in many
respects an improvement upon the first, published some seven years ago.
Much has occurred in Persia in the interim. The war has produced
many changes in the country, especially because of the part played by
England in the improvement of communications, and the establishment,
to a great extent, of law and order. The author of this work has him-
self played no insignificant part in these matters. His journeys through
the country enable him to speak from personal knowledge of its geog-
raphy, flora, and productions generally, and he has spared no pains in
performing the task which he has set himself. This new edition gives us
full details of all the latest occurrences throughout the country, and thus
brings the history completely up to date. Besides all this, the text has
been revised, and the early history of Persia has had much light cast upon
it by additional study, and as the result of more complete exploration.
In fact it may be said that now, for the first time, we have a complete
history not only of the Persian Empire but also of its connection and
points of contact at various periods with the other nations of the eastern
world, in both ancient and modern times. On the whole, it may be
safely said that General Sir Percy Sykes has made full use of his twenty-
seven years of residence and travel in the Persian Empire, and has thus
been enabled to give the world a work which for interest, accuracy of
information, and knowledge of the subject dealt with, leaves little to be
desired. The maps, so necessary for the student of history, are as com-
plete and perfect as could possibly be expected, and the abundant and
accurate illustrations add immensely to the interest of the student.
These are taken from the relics of the most ancient period, and include
many photographs of Assyrian, Susian, Elamite and ancient Persian
monuments, together with those of all periods up to the present. The
author gives us a very full sketch of the early history of Elam, Babylonia
and Assyria, showing clearly how these countries affected the nascent
nation, w^hich was in due course to become the widespread Persian Em-
pire. Having done this, he proceeds, in Chapter VHI, to tell us of the
cradle land of the Aryans in general, and in particular of the migration
of the part of this widely extended race into the country to which they
afterwards gave their name, in its present form Iran. This is followed
by a graphic and fairly accurate account of Zoroaster and the religion
which he founded, together with its development and gradual corruption.
We are then told of the rise of Media and the fall of Assyria. The
Persians, at first subdued by the Medes, ultimately gained the supremacy
and overcame the Babylonians, becoming the rulers of the known world
on the fall of Babylon, and soon after of Egypt, under Cyrus and his son
Cambyses. A very full narrative is given of the early Persian kings of
the Darius' family, including the tale of the Great War with Greece
under Xerxes, so well known from classical historians. In Chapter XIX
310
BOOK REVIEWS 311
we read of the decline of the Persian Empire. Then follows an account
of the rise of Macedonia, culminating in Alexander's wonderful career
and conquest of the Persian Empire. A detailed history is given of the
successors of Alexander the Great and the spread of Hellenic culture
and influence in the East. Parthia next comes upon the scene in its
conflict with the Romans. Our author states what is known of the
customs and religion of the Parthians, the introduction of Mithraism
among the soldiers of Rome, though his sketch of the latter religion
leaves much to be desired, and in a measure is far from accurate. We
then enter upon the history of the Sassanian dynasty and the persecution
of the Christians during the war with Rome. Chapter XXXVIII tells
of the struggle with the White Huns, which is concluded in the next.
In Chapter XL we have the history of Noshirwan the Just, while the
next chapter tells of the organization, language and architecture of
Persia under the Sassanides. In Chapter XLIII we read of the over-
throw of the empire by the Arabs. This is followed by a full account of
the rise and conquests of Islam, and the history of the first four
Khalifahs. In the 'Abbaside period we learn how Persian ability gained
the accendancy over the Arabs in intellectual matters, though the cour-
age and fanaticism of the latter had overthrown the Persian armies in
the field of battle, and largely destroyed their ancient literature and even
their language.
The second volume begins with a glowing account of the Golden Age
of Islam, in which the writer does more than full justice to the Arabian
learning and civilization, though he fails to dwell upon two important
facts: — one the immense debt due to the Syrian, Greek and other Chris-
tian subjects of the Arabian dynasty, through whom all translations from
the Greek and other ancient literatures were made into Arabic, and the
torch of learning thus handed on to posterity; and the other that the
transmission of thought and learning within the Mohammedan Empire
was possible then only because of the rise of the Mu'tazilah school of
philosophy, which was completely opposed to Islamic teaching. The
latter therefore has no claim to the transient glory of this enlightened
age. Indeed it was the restoration of rigid Mohammedan orthodoxy
which brought on the intellectual darkness that still hangs over all fully
Islamic lands. Chapter LI tells of the orthodox reaction which pro-
duced such sad results, and records the decay of the Khalifate, and the
revival of Persian independence. Then comes the narrative of the rise
and fall of the Seljuk Turks, followed by a sketch of Persian literature
before the coming of the Mongols. A graphic picture is drawn of the
terrible invasion of the Mongols and the fall of the Khalifate. Our
author enters almost too fully into the w^oes of Persia under her Tatar
desolators, such as Tamerlane and his successors. A good account of the
Safavi dynasty follows, and of the incessant wars that ensued. We see
the first visits of English and other European travelers, and the begin-
ning of western influence in Persia. A graphic sketch is given us of the
Afghan invasion of Persia and of its overthrow, of the rise and con-
quests of Nadir-Shah, and of the short lived dynasty that followed.
Chapter LXXIV tejls of the foundation of the Qajar dynasty in Persia,
which still holds the throne. The rest of the book may be said to deal
with Modern Persia and the vicissitudes through which it has passed
and is now passing. A very full account is given us of the events and con-
312 THE MOSLEM WORLD
sequences of the Great War, as far as Persia especially is concerned. The
amplitude of detail with which these matters are treated, though entirely
out of proportion to the rest of the history, enables the reader to obtain
a very exact acquaintance with the present position and future prospects
of this ancient land. Sir Percy Sykes' intimate association with these
matters, of which he very naturally feels that he may say "quorum pars
magna jui," renders the narrative of especial value and interest. It
would be hard to speak too enthusiastically of the exactness of the excel-
lent maps and the abundance of the illustrations which render this work
almost all that could be desired in the way of a History of Persia. The
list of authorities appended to the second volume contains nearly all the
works which throw light on the subject from the earliest times to the
latest. We regret, however, that there sometimes appears in the author's
pages a prejudice against the Biblical references to Persia, including
Elam, and a decided tendency to accept the dicta of the so-called Higher
Criticism, oblivious of the fact that its "operose constructions" are al-
ready being swept away by the advancing tide of more thorough study
of the actual facts revealed by the ancient monuments. The Book of
Daniel seems to provoke Sir Percy Sykes' animosity, especially through
its accuracy, which occasionally he fails to notice. He therefore at-
tributes to the Prophet mistakes made by others. In spite of this draw-
back, which must be largely due to the spirit of the age, we are indebted
to Sir Percy Sykes for an admirable and most excellent history of Persia,
and one which will long hold the field against all possible competitors.
W. St. Clair Tisdall.
Die person Mohammeds in Lehre Und Glauben Seiner Gemeinde,
von Tor Andrae, Stockholm. 1918.
This is a rather belated notice of an academic thesis of a Swedish
scholar, published as No. 16 of LundelVs Archives d' Etudes orientales
which has just reached us.
It is not a life of the Prophet in the ordinary sense, but an attempt to
trace the growth of the "Mohammed Myth" (if we may borrow the
phrase from Drews) among his followers. Caetani has pointed out how
"we see the figure of Mohammed through a thick veil, which distorts all
his most essential traits, and we find it embellished with many elements
foreign to his true nature, which were arbitrarily added at later periods.
In other words, we have the latest edition ''revidierte und verbesserte''
of a work to which the constant solicitude of many generations has con-
tributed. And the researches of Goldziher, Caetani, Lammens,
and earlier of Sprenger, have only served to emphasize the fact pointed
out by Horovitz that the "Prophet had to enter into the heritage of his
predecessors and wrap around him their mantle of saintship. His erst-
while heathen countrymen transferred to him the powers which they had
formerly ascribed to their Kahins; the new converts from the old civili-
zations assigned to him the attributes of their former saints."
Tor Andrae approaches the question from the wider angle of Com-
parative Religion, an indication of which he had already given in an
article "Die Legenden von der Berufung Mohammeds" published in the
Upsala journal Le Monde Orientale for 191 2 (Vol. VI). Since the
researches of Goldziher we have been familiar with the fact that "old
Arabian motifs, interpretations of Koranic passages, Jewish tales of godly
BOOK REVIEWS 313
men and pious Rabbis, Apocryphal Gospels and legends of Christian
Saints, old heathen, Buddhist and Zoroastrian elements, all, even as early
as the first century of the Hegira, had to contribute their share towards
the embellishing of the picture of the Prophet." (Horovitz.) (See
Goldziher's "Religion des Islams" in Kultur der Gegenwart, 1906, pp.
100, loi.) But we are none the less grateful to see the material for this
judgment brought together and treated in a masterly manner in the
monograph before us.
Chapter I deals with the Prophet legend, and critically considers the
birth and childhood stories, the Ascension, food and water miracles,
miracles of healing, miracles on trees and animals and transformations,
the cleaning of the heart, the splitting of the moon, and then considers the
later development of the legends.
Chapter II concerns the miracles of the Prophet in theology, particu-
larly with the so-called miracle of the Koran and the controversy over
this.
Chapter III is on the infallibility {Isma) of the Prophet, and the
teaching thereon in the ancient tradition, among the Mu'tazilites, the
older Ash'arites and the mystics.
Chapter IV takes up the question of the Person of the Prophet and
Sunna, and more particularly with the question of the Prophet as the
model of the moral life.
Chapter V. The Koran of the Prophet and Piety. Here starting
with the teaching on the mercy of God, he deals with the doctrine of the
Prophet as intercessor, Mohammed's superiority over other Prophets, his
position as revealer of the Divine mercy, his seat at God's throne, and
his life since his death.
Chapter VI takes up the most important consideration of all, viz, the
development of the Prophet cultus. Here he lays stress on the connec-
tion between the Hellenistic conception of the God-man and the Imam
idea of the Shi'as, and traces the influence of this Shi'a belief in Sufiism in
five directions: (i) the idea of intercession, (2) of pre-existence, (3)
of the Logos idea, (4) the superliuman equipment of the Prophet, (5)
the mystico-personal relation of the Prophet.
The whole is preceded by an illuminative essay on Mohammed's con-
sciousness of his prophetic vocation, which alone is worthy of the closest
consideration of all serious students of the origin of Islam, and the whole
treatise, for which the author apologizes in his Vorwort, deserves a place
alongside Goldziher, Caetani and Lammens, among the most notable
contributions of our generation to Islamic origins.
The fact that the book appears under the approbation of such well-
known Islamic scholars as Hurgronje, of Leiden, and Ignaz Goldziher, of
Budapesth, is a sufficient guarantee of the value of the scholarship in that
direction, while the veteran Dr. Nathan Zoderblom gives it his im-
primatur from the standpoint of the modern science of comparative re-
ligion. What better introduction could a book have?
It may be interesting to some to know that it was from Tor Andrae's
notes that the late Prof. Goldziher's lectures before the University of
Upsala were set up and printed under the title: Islam fordom och nu.
Studier i Koranfolkningens historia, in 191 5.
Cairo. Arthur Jeffery.
314 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Barbary: The Romance of the Nearest East. By A. MacCallum Scott,
M.P. London: Thornton Butterworth, Ltd. Pp. 222. 12/6 net.
One of the latest books of travel on Algiers and Tunis. Mr. Scott
writes with picturesque pen. He has humour and imaginative charm.
In a series of lively chapters we have sketches of scenery, ancient civiliza-
tion, present day life and wayside adventure. Regarding Islam he says,
that this religion produces a painful or humourous impression, according
to the temperament of the observer, because of the apparent utter di-
vergence between faith and works on the part of these zealous wor-
shipers. They have a great zeal for prayer, but are lax in their morality.
"Joseph Thomson, the African explorer, who had thought favourably
of Mohammedanism before he visited Morocco, wrote: *It was difficult
to grasp the fact that absolutely the most religious nation on the
face of the earth was also the most grossly immoral. In no sect is faith
so absolutely paramount, so unweakened by any strain of scepticism, as
among the Mohammedans of Morocco. Among no people are prayers
so commonly heard or religious duties more rigidly attended to. Yet side
by side with it all, rapine and murder, mendacity of the most advanced
type, and brutish and nameless vices exist to an extraordinary degree.' "
The last chapter describes the task of France. Fifteen centuries ago
all this region was a flourishing Roman province, plains which are now
desert were then cultivated. Great cities, with all the luxury and refine-
ment of Rome, existed on the frontiers of the desert, and magnificent
roads penetrated everywhere. Here the Christian Church first came to
power. It was the land of Tertullian, Cyprian and Augustine. After
the Mohammedan deluge, both Rome and Christianity went under
Africa ; the Dark Ages fell like a curtain. France has now taken up the
task of Rome, and her methods. She has subdued the robber tribes, built
roads and railways, irrigated the desert, established schools, post offices,
boulevards, newspapers. She has even introduced popular elections.
The author draws a somewhat unfair contrast between the results
of the British occupation of Eg>'pt and those of France in Barbary. Will
France succeed where Rome failed? he asks. "I am not sure. It is too
early to venture on prophecy. The great experiment is only at its begin-
ning. There are many factors which require time for development, and
whose significance is obscure. France has taken Rome for her model,
but France is not Rome, and she has to contend with two factors which
were unknown to the Romans — Religion, and the modern theory of
Democracy, which has dominated France since the Revolution."
"The Mohammedan religion has a stronger hold on the African popu-
lation than any of the old pagan cults which existed in the time of the
Romans. It is as hard and as self-centered as a diamond. It opposes a
blank wall to the most active and stimulating ideas and motive forces of
our civilization. It is a spiritual armour against Europeanization. It
does not yield. The soul of Africa is still the soul which Mohammed
gave it from the Desert."
S. M. ZWEMER.
The Lebanon in. Turmoil; Syria and the Powers in i860. Yale Oriental
Series — Researches — Vol, VII. Pp. 203, by J. F. Scheltema, M.A.,
Ph.D.; Yale University Press.
This volume may be divided into two parts: the first comprises "The
Book of the Marvels of the Time Concerning the Massacres in the Arab
BOOK REVIEWS 315
Country," by Iskandar Ibn Yakub Abkarius; and the second comprises
the "Introduction and the Conclusion" from the pen of Dr. Scheltema,
the translator of the first part.
These two parts present a most interesting contrast. The first was
written by a Christian who was living in Syria at the time of the events
therein recorded, and he gives a graphic description of these massacres
which aroused the indignation of Europe and America. With the vil-
lages of the Lebanon on fire, and the blood of his fellow Christians flow-
ing freely around him, the author could not possibly see more than one
side of the question. The second part, written about half a century later
in the light of impartial history thousands of miles from the scene of the
disturbances presents the case under a different aspect. Without con-
doning the atrocities committed. Dr. Scheltema throws light on the causes
which led up to them; and if the Druses had not forestalled the Chris-
tians they themselves would have been exterminated, being as they were
a small minority. It was a death and life struggle to them and naturally
they took the view that "all is fair in love and in war."
Dr. Scheltema gives in his "Conclusion" another instance of history
repeating itself. The jealousies of the powers after the World War re-
minded him of the years 1840 and i860 ; and the reviewer might add that
the ecstasy of the Maronites over the French occupation of 191 8 was
a repetition of their ecstasy when the troops of Napoleon III landed in
Beirut in i860. Besides, the Zouaves of i860 (see page 165) find
worthy successors in the Colonial troops of the present occupation. The
first occupation lasted only ten months, during which the French did not
interfere in the government machinery, otherwise the same change of
feeling witnessed at present would have shown itself then, and would
probably have cured the Maronites and the Roman Catholic sects of
that blind love for France, based on that unstable foundation called
"Tradition," w^hich to quote the French lexicographer Larousse means
"stories true and false transmitted by word of mouth" — perhaps more
often false than true.
It would be well if the "Introduction and the Conclusion" were trans-
lated into Arabic and circulated w^idely throughout the East. They are
extremely well documented, and will not fail to show Orientals the folly
of pulling chestnuts from the fire for the Western Nations, and that it
would be in their own interest to follow the old Eastern saying: "Your
next door neighbour is more useful to you than your brother who is far
away."
The translator states in note eighty-one at the foot of page 65 that
Al-Hazmiyah is "known for centuries as the last resting place of the
learned Faris ash-Shidyaq." This statement needs some explanation as
Faris ash-Shidvaq, known as Ahmed Faris ash-Shidvaq, died as recently
as 1887 or 1888.
B.
Een Javaansche Primbon Uit de Zestiende Eeuw, Inleiding, Vertaling en
Aanteekeningen. Academisch Proefschrift. Door Hendrik Kraemer.
Leiden: Firma P. W. M. Trap. 1921. Pp. 239.
Dr. Snouck Hurgronje, of Leiden University — to whom this book is
dedicated by his pupil — might well be proud of such evidence of scholar-
ship. The essay deals with a Javanese manuscript of the Sixteenth Cen-
tury on Islam; apparently a collection of Moslem religious lore from
7
3i6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Arabic sources especially the Hadith, Ghazali's Ihya, the Talkhis of
Nawawi and the Tawhid of Ali Shakur.
In chapters one and two, we have the text of the manuscript critically
considered. The third chapter deals with religious life in North Sumatra
in the Sixteenth Century, because the manuscript doubtless had its origin
there. Chapter four gives an account of the later religious literature,
especially the Primbons or collections of a mystical character.
Chapter five gives the outline of Mysticism as taught in Java, and its
sources together with the magical practices based upon its teachings. A
final chapter shows the effect of this type of literature upon the Javanese
Moslem mind.
Pages 136 to 193 give the translation of the manuscript followed by
Notes, a Bibliography and a complete Index. In his conclusions the
author urges the importance of establishing a school for comparative
language study in the East Indies. He has made a special study of
Arabic and Islam, also visiting Cairo, and is under appointment as ad-
visor to the Bible Society of the Netherlands.
S. M. ZWEMER.
Arabian Medicine. Being the Fitzpatrick Lectures delivered at the College
of Physicians in November, 1919, and November, 1920. By Edward G.
Browne, M.B., F.R.C.P. Cambridge University Press. 1921. Pp.
vii-138. I2S. net.
Except for a German work by Dr. Opitz entitled "Der Medicin im
Koran," which strangely is not mentioned by Dr. Browne, this is the first
connected account of medical science and literature among Moslems.
The importance of the subject is evident when we remember that by
Arabian medicine he means "that body of scientific or medical doctrine
which is enshrined in books written in the Arabic language, but which is
for the most part Greek in its origin, though with Indian, Persian and
Syrian accretions, and only in a very small degree the product of the
Arabian mind. Its importance, as has long been recognized, lies not in
its originality, but in the fact that in the long interval which separated
the decay of Greek learning from the Renaissance, it represented the most
faithful tradition of ancient wisdom, and was during the Dark Ages
the principal source from which Europe derived such philosophical and
scientific ideas as she possessed."
The first lecture deals with the periods of Islamic history, the trans-
mission of Greek learning and the contributions made to medical knowl-
edge by Syrians and Persians. In the second lecture the author goes on
to trace the history of Arabian medicine proper, mentioning among the
great number of writers four who stand out prominently: *Ali ibn
Rabban, Abu Bakr Mohammed ibn Zakariyya ar-Razi, *Ali ibn '1-Abbas
al-Majusi, Abd *Ali Husayn ibn Sina (Avicenna). All of these wrote
voluminously, especially ar-Razi, some of whose medical tracts were
translated into Latin, French, and other languages. In the third lecture
we have a recapitulation of Arabian popular medicine and an account of
medical practice at the time of the Crusades. Anecdotes are given in
some cases of amusing and notable cures as recorded in Arabic and Per-
sian literature. The fourth lecture deals with the contributions made to
the science of medicine by the Moors of Spain, especially the school of
Toledo.
The author's conclusions are summarized in his statement: "From
BOOK REVIEWS 317
the narrowest utilitarian point of view it is not likely that even the pro-
foundest study of the subject will yield any practical results of impor-
tance, seeing that the whole system is based on a rudimentary Anatomy,
an obsolete Physiology, and a fantastic Pathology." He fails, however,
to show that it is this very obsolete and fantastic system which still holds
in its grasp the masses in nearly every Moslem land. The reason is evi-
dent. Arabian medicine is based upon Moslem tradition. The little
handbooks entitled Tib-an-Nabawi are universally read and obeyed, be-
cause they relate what the Prophet of God said and did in emergencies.
The Arabs of the interior of Arabia and the villagers of the Delta still
believe that, excluding the rare case of a perfect equilibrium, ''every
individual will be either of the Bilious Complexion, which is hot and
dry; the Atrabilious or Melancholic, which is cold and dry; the
Phlegmatic, which is cold and moist ; or the Sanguine, which is hot and
moist. In treating a hot, cold, dry or moist disease with a food or drug
of the opposite quality, regard must be paid to these idiosyncrasies. The
Natural Property inherent in each food or drug exists in one of four
degrees. Thus, for example, such a substance if hot in the first degree is
a food ; if hot in the second degree, both a food and a medicine ; if hot
in the third degree, a medicine not a food ; if hot in the fourth degree a
poison. Another fourfold division of substances which react on the
human body is into those which act beneficially both internally and ex-
ternally, like wheat, which in the stomach is a food, and externally a
poultice to "ripen" wounds or sores; those which are beneficial only in-
ternally,, but mischievous externally, like garlic, which, taken internally,
increases the natural heat, but applied externally acts as a poison ; those
which are poisons internally but antidotes externally, like Litharge
{murdasang) and Verdigris or Acetate of Copper {Zangar) , and lastly
those which both externally and internally act as poisons, like Aconite
and Ergot."
It is true, as Dr. Browne says (page 65) that these popular supersti-
tions are at present exposed and denounced by the more enlightened and
educated classes, but the hold of Tradition is strong, and we regret that
an entire lecture was not devoted to Arabian Medicine as given in the
Koran and in orthodox collections of Tradition. Are the latter not one
of the acknowledged sources of Islam, and as authoritative in most re-
spects as is the Koran itself ?
Written in a fascinating style, the book is extraordinarily rich in facts,
accurate in detail and fills a distinct gap in Islamic lore.
S. M. Z.
A Short History of the Saracens. Being a concise account of the rise
and decline of the Saracenic power and of the economical, social and
intellectual development of the Arab nation. By Ameer Ali Syed.
London: Macmillan. 192 1. Pp. xxi-640. i2/-net.
The first edition of this well-known history of the Saracens appeared
in 1899. There have been reprints. The present edition is revised, and
comes at an opportune moment, when the whole world is interested in
the future of the Near East. Were it not for special pleading on the
part of the learned author, especially in the earlier chapters, we would
unhesitatingly commend the book as a compendium on the subject. How-
ever, the "blind spot" to the facts of early Moslem history appears in such
a statement as: "After the death of Khadija, Mohammed, in accordance
3i8 THE MOSLEM WORLD
with Arab customs and the old patriarchal ways, married several wives,
partly with the object of uniting hostile tribes, and partly to provide
means of subsistence to helpless w^omen." Or the impression given that
Islam only used the sword In self-defense. Compare with this, for exam-
ple, the statement of al-Baladhurl, In Dr. HIttl's translation of the Kitab
Futuh al Buldan (page 21), quoting from Mohammed himself: "All
districts or cities were conquered by force, except al-Medina, which was
conquered by the swofd."
In his preface the author points out that "a great Empire which
claimed the heritage of the Abbasside Caliphs has practically disappeared ;
whether it will rise again from its ashes remains to be seen. But the
story of the Saracens, like that of the Ottomans, has a moral which will
strike every student as one of the lessons of history." Doubtless the rea-
sons for this downfall were similar to those given in the days of Merwan
by one of the roj^al family.
"We gave to pleasure," he said, "the time which it was our duty to
devote to public affairs; the heavy burdens we imposed on the people
alienated them from our rule ; harassed by vexatious imposts and despair-
ing of redress, they prayed for deliverance from us ; our domains became
uncultivated and our treasuries empty; we trusted our ministers, they
sacrificed our interests to their selfish aims and ambitions, and conducted
the administration without our participation and our knowledge. The
army, whose pay was always in arrear, sided with the enemy in the hour
of danger ; and our allies failed us when we needed them most. But our
ignorance of the public affairs and the events which were passing around
us, was one of the principal causes of the fall of our empire."
The maps, charts, illustrations and index are excellent In every wav.
Z.
A History of Sinai. By Lina Eckenstein. London : S. P. C. K. 1921. Pp.
202. Price 8/6.
The author has first-hand acquaintance with the country, where she
has worked with Professor Flinders Petrle. She traces Its history from
the earlier records, when Sinai was the mining region of the Egy^ptian
Empire, through the Exodus, and the eras of the Christian monks and
the Moslem invasion, down to the present day. She visited Sinai in the
winter of 1905-6 and writes of the history of the Peninsula as an early
centre of "moon-cult," an Egyptian sanctuary even before the days of
Israel. Three chapters deal with the exodus period ; then follows the
story of the Nabateans, the Hermits of Sinai and the building of the
Christian convents, the fortifications of which date to 527 A.D. ; the
struggle with the Saracens and during the Crusade period brings the nar-
rative to modern times; and the last chapter gives Sinai's history during
the Nineteenth Century.
Interesting in every respect, the book is marred by its destructive crit-
ical viewpoint, especially in chapters seven and eight. The Burning
Bush becomes a desert campfire, Jehovah a tribal god, the Passover a
rite against plague, and the Glory of the Lord (Exodus 16: 10) was the
new moon ! The Israelites fed on manna from the Tamarisk bush, and
Moses discovered a water hole instead of smiting the rock.
z.
BOOK REVIEWS 319
A Christian's Appreciation of Other Faiths. A study of the best in the
world's greatest religions by the Rev. Gilbert Reid. Chicago: Open
Court Publishing Co. Pp. 305- Price $2.50.
These lectures were delivered in Shanghai, China. They were given
under the auspices of the Billings Lectureship, controlled by the Uni-
tarian Association of Boston. The treatment of Islam is full of inac-
curacies and misprints. Ishmael is not considered "the progenitor of the
Mohammedan faith." The Moslems do not give reverence in turn to
the six greater prophets at the different periods of prayer. Mohammed
knew nothing of the Gospel of Barnabas, and could not possibly have
used it as his source for his knowledge of Jesus. It is ridiculous to
imagine that this late forgery was current in Arabia in the sixth cen-
tury. Islam did not teach the observance of covenants made with idola-
ters nor even with Christians. The writer truly says that the Unitarian
and the Moslem are akin in cardinal religious beliefs. "Between the
Unitarian and the Moslem there is a fraternal spirit" ; but it is not true
that historic Christianity "drinks at the same fountain, though from a
different cup," as does Islam. One great lesson from these lectures is,
however, important : appreciation of other faiths is desirable and produc-
tive of good, provided that it does not lead to blindness and superficiality
of judgment.
Z. S. R.
The Faith of Islam. By Rev. Edward Sell, D.D., M.R.A.S. Fourth
edition revised and enlarged. Madras. 1920.
This is the latest edition of Canon Sell's work, which first appeared in
1880 as a tall thin volume of xiv, 270 pages, was reissued enlarged in
Triibner's Oriental Series in 1896, was again enlarged considerably in
a third edition published by the S. P. C. K. in 1907, and now appears
again from the S. P. C. K., Madras, in its final form as a substantial
volume of xii, 466 pages.
The form of the previous edition has been kept in this one, and the
most important additions are the account of Ahmadiyya Sect added to
Chapter III, and the substitution of an essay on "The Authenticity of the
Traditions," as appendix A, in place of the earlier one on 'Ilmu
U-tajwid," though considerable additions have been made in the body of
the work, particularly in the matter of quotations from works which have
become available to the author since the appearance of the previous
edition.
Though not as complete as one would wish, we know no better com-
pendium of the facts concerning the religious life of Islam. Canon Sell
has the art of putting concisely and in a readable form matters which
from their nature are somewhat dry and abstract, and he is eminently
fair in his judgment. A criticism levelled at previous editions, however,
also holds for this one, viz, that it is written from the Persian and In-
dian standpoints, rather than from the Arabic.
The most serious criticism we have to make is that the book takes no
account whatever of the mass of work done by modern European scholars
for the elucidation of the problems of Islam. In the section on the
Koran there is no mention of the work of Hirschfeld or Barth, of Paul
Casanova's revolutionary theories, or Dr. Alphone Mingoma's important
monograph which stirred the Qadianis so considerably; even Noldeke's
320 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Geschichte des Qorans is still quoted from the old edition of 1861.
Again in the appendix on "Authenticity of Traditions" there is no refer-
ence to the work of Caetani or Henri Lammens, and Goldziher's epoch-
making work seems only to be known through the article of Canon
Gairdncr in the Moslem World for October 19 15. On the development
of law and practice reference is made to Margoliouth's Hibbert
Lectures, but Goldziher's Vorlesungen is apparently quite as unknown
as the essays of Hurgronje. The note on Moslem philosophy appears
to be based on de Boer with occasional reference to Munk and Mac-
donald, but no notice is taken of the numerous and immensely important
works of Horton and Carra de Vaux, and the same omission is noticeable
in most sections of the book. This defect is a serious detraction from
the value to students of an otherwise excellent compendium.
The printing and binding leave nothing to be desired.
A. J.
The Redemption of Saint Sophia. An historical and political account
of the subject by Rev. J. A. Douglas. London: Faith Press. Pp. 79.
2/6d.
This is the second edition of a plea for the restoration of Saint Sophia
to Christian worship. It is not an attack on Islam or the Turks, but
an appeal to international justice, and especially to Great Britain. The
author traces the history of the Church, gives an account of its condi-
tion, and summarizes as follows:
"If you could stray unknowingly into Saint Sophia you would not
fail to identify it as a church. You would see the consecration crosses
on the huge columns. You would read the graven *I am the Door of
the Sheep' on the great bronze door, and would guess the missing words
from many a text and prayer. The great green shields which bear the
names of Allah and Mohammed and Abu Bakr and Omar and Othman
and Ali, the heroes of Islam, look out of place. The building faces
to the east w^here the sun rises to typify the True Light of the world.
But the prayer mats are laid in line with the mihrab in the apse, which
looks south-east. The whole place seems twisted on its axis, and is
askew. More, just as at times, the rays of penitence light up the heart
w^hich though stamped for ever with the image of the Living God, has
been entered and is possessed of evil spirits, there are days when the sun
shines into Saint Sophia, and you can see the outlines of the figure of
Christ and His Mother and the Saints under the layers of plaster."
Churches in Making. Annual report of the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel in foreign parts. 1920. London. Ninepence net.
It is a far cry from British Guiana to South Africa, but in both places
the influence of Indian Islam is noticeable. In the first place this is due
to English trained Doctors and Lawyers, while in the latter its impact
results in the degradation of women. Thus Islam's ranks are swelled.
The report is a lesson in Christian Geography. B.
Charles de Foucauld, explorateur du Maroc, ermite au Sahara, par Rene
Bazin. Paris : Plon. 1921 ; pp. 478. 10 francs.
The author compares the life of Charles de Foucauld with that of
Francis Assisi. Space does not permit us to give a complete analysis of
this interesting biography, which describes his youth, his voyage of ex-
BOOK REVIEWS 321
ploration in Morocco, his scientific researches, his conversion, his sub-
sequent obscure and poverty-stricken life, followed by his novitiate at the
Beni-Abbes, and his transfer to Hoggar, vi^here he was assassinated by the
Senussi in 191 6.
That it is possible to reclaim Islam, was his firm conviction ; but the
Mohammedans must first be "tamed," and the seed sown patiently and
unhurriedly. Quoting from de Foucauld, the author says: "Good
priests are wanted in sufficiently large numbers; not to preach-— such
would be received in precisely the same way that our Breton villages
would receive the Turks coming to preach Mohammed — but simply to
live among them, to make themselves beloved, to inspire esteem, con-
fidence, friendship; there is need of Christians (laymen) both men and
women, to come into still closer contact with them, to enter where the
priests could not possibly enter, and by their lives to be examples of
Christian virtue, of the Christian home, the Christian spirit; good
Christian nuns are needed to tend the sick and to educate the children.
Let but such a method be adopted, and the conversion of the masses will
come, in twenty-five, fifty, a hundred years; but it is bound to come, like
the ripening of fruit, in season."
Father de Foucauld laboured under no delusion. He knew that he
himself would not see the fruit of his labours, but he carried on silently
and determinedly, for, cries his biographer, "It is a terrible thing to have
a vocation, when he that is called to it is resolute with a strong will and
ready to obey to the death."
"Missionaries so isolated as myself are rare," said de Foucauld, "Their
role is to prepare the way so that the missions that come after will find
the people friendly and trustful, souls already familiar with Christianity,
and a few even ready to be converted." He did not believe in forcing his
faith upon them, however, nor in hurrying their conversion. First to
study the field, and then to make himself known and loved by them was
his programme. "It is frightful to think how ignorant we are of oui-
Africa," says the author. Father de Foucauld knew his own little
corner of Touareg well. "He knows our language better than we do,"
the natives used to say. And it was not only their language, but their
soul ; and this knowledge he faithfully tried to hand down to those that
would come after him. He translated the New Testament into the
Touareg language, and wrote a grammar; he compiled a Touareg-
French dictionary, and collected and translated some Touareg poems.
All of these works are of considerable and authoritative value, but he
never consented to have them published in his own name. This shy
and retiring trait was characteristic.
trans, from H. C. in Missions Evangeliques
Missions et Christianisme Social. Paris, Societe des Missions fivangel-
iques, 102 Boulevard Arago. Pp. 124. 5 francs.
A special number of the Social Revieiu of French Protestantism,
dealing with missions from the standpoint of the Christian socialist. The
subjects range from the abolition of slavery in the Antilles, to Bolshevist
propaganda in Indo-China, and all emphasize the dual nature of mission-
ary work — the conversion of the individual and the transformation of
Society.
The last paper, by ifimile Bres, on Missions in Moslem lands, main-
tains that since Islam is not only a religion, but a social system affecting
322 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the whole life of the people in the domain, it can only be replaced by a
social Christianity which is superior.
The writer describes an interesting work in French territory (North
Africa) begun among the young Kabyle soldiers returned from the war.
At Il-Maten a school for evangelists and a carpet school are the nucleus
from which it is hoped to develop a Christian community centre, in-
cluding a church, a dispensary, a foyer similar to the Y. M. C. A., with
houses for workers and missionaries.
This effort in community service is only part of a vast missionary
social scheme already being realized by the Methodist Episcopal Church,
which has established foyers in Algiers and Tunis, and is attempting to
do the same elsewhere. The aim of the missionary statesmen in charge,
is the spiritual and social regeneration of North Africa by the Gospel.
H. C.
Assyrian Church Customs and the Murder of Mar Shimum. By Surma
d'Bait Mar Shimun. Faith Press. London. 1920. Pp. 119. 2/6d.
Gives an account of the so-called Assyrian Church and its branches of
the Church Catholic, their ecclesiastical customs, festivals, pilgrimages,
magic arts, marriages and funerals ; the nine degrees of the clergy and the
seven Sacraments. One can learn much also of the habits of the people,
their handicraft and trade, thisir relations with the Turks and Kurds
before the war. Then came the great tragedy; the nation was almost
destroyed, more than 4,000 souls destroyed by murder, famine and pes-
tilence; homes were destroyed, ancient books burnt, their habitation left
waste. The author concludes with the earnest prayer to England that
she will not abandon those whom she has saved in the past, and whom in
the hour of danger she was willing to call Allies. Z.
Arabic Thought and Its Place in History. By de Lacy O'Leary, D.D.
1922. Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co. Price los. 6d.
The reviewer took up this latest volume of Triibner's Oriental Series
with great expectations, but laid it down with a keen sense of disap-
pointment. Dr. O'Leary had a wonderful opportunity of writing a
critical history of Arabic thought, and setting forth its value as well as
its limitations when viewed comparatively, but he has missed it. The
very title is a misnomer, for there are whole fields of Arabic thought that
he has not touched upon, and much of what he does discuss is not Arabic.
This is the less serious, however, as in his Preface, he limits the scope of
his book. "It is the effort of the following pages" he says, "to trace the
transmission of Hellenistic thought through the medium of Moslem
philosophers and Jewish thinkers who lived in Moslem surroundings, to
show how this thought, modified as it passed through a period of de-
velopment in the Moslem community and itself modifying Islamic ideals,
was brought to bear upon the culture of medieval Latin Christendom."
Taking the book, however, as a history of Arabian Aristotelianism,
for this is practically what Hellenism in Moslem thought amounts to,
the author has done nothing more than put into an easily readable form
some general information as to the various groups of theological and
philosophical writers of the Moslem world. None of the pressing
problems in the study of Arabian Aristotelianism are faced, and what is
more amazing, no reference whatever is made to the important con-
tributions which have been made in recent years to the solution of this
BOOK REVIEWS 323
problem by such scholars as Goldziher and Max Horten. For instance
Chapter I deals with the "Syriac version of Hellenism" and Chapter IV,
with "The Translators," but no attempt has been made to work out the
distortions of Aristotle's thought due to its transmission through poor
translation. Again, in his treatment of Sufiism, the author follows
Prof. Nicholson in holding a Neoplatonic basis, but the thorny question
of Vedantic influence, and the equally thorny one of Zoroastrian sub-
stratum, have not been ventured on. Moreover even in the treatment
of Aristotelianism, where we might have expected a systematic elucida-
tion of the development of the different phases of Aristotle's thought
among the Moslems, we have only disconnected hints.
*As a popular introduction to Moslem philosophical thinking, how-
ever. Dr. O'Leary's book may be of excellent service. He writes easily
and simply, and gives abundance of interesting reading on the different
thinkers from the Mu'tazilites to Ibn Rushd, touching their lives, their
environment, and the general character of their thought. The author is
at his best in the Chapter on Sufiism, which provides an excellent intro-
duction to this most fascinating phase of Moslem thinking.
Frequently the author speaks with a dogmatism which is hardly
warranted by the present state of our knowledge, and sometimes his
conclusions and statements are exceedingly doubtful, as the Philonic
origin of John's Logos which he asserts on p. 13, his philology on p.
269, the Semitic migrations on p. 63. There are numerous misprints,
particularly in the spelling of names, and what is an unpardonable sin
in a work of this nature, the book has not even the suggestion of an
Index. Arthur Jeffery.
Zionism and World Politics. A Study in History and Social Psycholo^
by Horace Meyer Kallen, Ph.D., of the New School for Social Research.
London : William Heinemann. pp. xii — 345.
The writer in his preface states with truth that there never was a
time when the knowledge of the truth about the Jews was so needful as
an antidote to prejudice regarding them, both among the Jews themselves
and Gentiles. His studies of the subject began in 191 5, and some of
them appeared in various journals. Tracing the origin and basis of
Zionism, he follows out its program and parties with great insight and
without prejudice. The chapter which deals with Palestine and the
Near East, after the "treaties of Versailles and St. Remo, touches on
Islam and its relation to the problem, and therefore specially interests
the readers of our Quarterly. He shows that the settlement of inter-
national relations in the Near East became the usual displomat's game
of grab, in which Turk and Arab began to play their own hands. We
quote: "For the Turks the play was desperate. They had been re-
fused all consideration by the Council of Four, in terms as unmistak-
able as they were stinging. Their state, even such as it had been, was
completely ruined, and their pre-war pan-Turanianism was bankrupt.
There remained a nationalist eastward propaganda among the more or
less Turanian stocks from Anatolia to the Carpathians, and a religious
general propaganda among the Moslem faithful. Pan-Turanianism and
pan-Moslemism were preached at one and the same time. The national-
ist leader, Mustapha Djamil Pasha, produced a reconciling formula
for these essentially irreconcilable doctrines. *I preach,' he declared,
'Islam as a race.' At the same time he made use of Islam to foment and
324 THE MOSLEM WORLD
increase the unrest in Moslem India, Egypt, and Syria. By the Moslems
of India, whose nationalist preoccupations would be well served by such
an occasion, the Turkish peace and the integrity of the Turkish Empire
was converted into a religious question of the Khalifate. In Egypt and
Syria the conception of the unity of the Moslem world was made the
basis of a bitter anti-European propaganda."
This provoked anti-Semitism also among high officials, and the Balfour
Declaration w^as not always observed. He claims that even missionary
interests at times organized anti-Jewish propaganda, but also admits the
general stupidity, ^ignorance and incompetence of Palestinian Jews, and
"their unparalleled disunion, their sectarian, national, linguistic, and
other quarrels."
Altogether these studies are broad, sane and unpartisan. The book
is well written and has an excellent index. Z.
Three Travellers in North Africa. By the Hon. Emily Ward, with
photographs and a chapter on Southern Tunisia by Lord Leigh. And
a preface by the Hon. Agnes Leigh. John Lane. The Bodley Head.
London, pp. 220. Price 6/ — net.
A record of a four-months' visit during the winter of 19 19- 1920 in
the more remote districts of Algeria and Tunisia. Three routes were
followed: from Algiers southward beyond Laghouat into the country
of the Mozabites; again through Bougie south, to the west by the way of
Satif and Biskra to Toughourt and Zawia, returning by way of Con-
stantine. The third journey was along the eastern coast of Tunisia,
including the island of Djirba. Though sketchy, the information is
always interesting, and generally accurate, while the illustrations and
map leave nothing to be desired.
Die Stellung Dcr Frau in Indien (Halat el-Mara fi 1-Hind) von Zain el-
Abdin. Aus dem Arabischen ins Deutsche ubersetzt von Dr. O. Rescher,
Berlin, Der Neue Orient, 1918.
A study of the life of woman in Islam in North India, by the professor
of the former German University in Jerusalem. He contrasts the sup-
posed moral evils due to enforced monogamy with the better social
system of limited polygamy authorized by Mohammed. The preface is
by the German Orientalist, Kampfmeyer. We regret so late a notice of
a book that is important because written from the Moslem standpoint.
An Introduction to Missionary Science. Edited by G. A. Gollock and E.
K. Hewat, Oxford University Press, pp. 167. Price 3/6d.
A scholarly and up-to-date statement of the Christian message, and
its presentation through various forms of mission work. The new
problems arising out of social and political unrest throughout the world
today are indicated, and there is counsel on personal relationship both
inside and outside of missionary circles, and with the church of the
land, which every one entering the mission field will find invaluable.
Emphasis is laid on the need of broad and thorough preparation and
continuous open-mindedness, plus that vital relationship to Christ, which
alone justifies missionary endeavour.
The eleven appendices on the study of religions, languages and other
subjects, by such experts as Kenneth Saunders (Buddhism) D. B. Mac-
donald (Islam), A. E. Garvie and others, provide stimulating sugges-
tions for individual study on the field and during furlough. R. C.
BOOK REVIEWS 325
Europe in Asia Minor. The Real Significance of the Near East Question.
By FeHx Valyi. London: Thomas Murby & Co. pp. 45. Price i/6d.
This essay on contemporary diplomatic history is an appeal for the
political and economic autonomy of Islam. It is Turkophile in its
interpretation of the present situation, but deserves attention for that
very reason.
The First Crusade. Translated from the Accounts of Eyewitnesses by Au-
gust C. Krey. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J. pp. 299.
Price $3.00.
Every worker among Moslems needs to know the story of the Cru-
sades. Here we have it from original documents, namely fourteen
letters translated from the Latin texts, together with eleven historical
documents such as the Alexiad, the Gesta Tancredi, the History of
Jerusalem, by Fulcher, etc. The chapters are summaries of these various
documents given in actual translation, without comment in most cases,
except for an introduction and supplementary notes (pp. 281-299).
The seven chapters consist of the following: The Summons, The
March to Constantinople, Alexius and the Crusaders, From Nicaea to
Antioch, Kerbogha and the Finding of the Lance, Dissension among the
Leaders, and Capture of Jerusalem. Nowhere will the reader find a
more vivid portraiture of the relations between Christian and Saracen
than in these collected annals.
The Turks and Europe. By Gaston Gaillard (Translated from the French).
London: Thomas Murby and Co. pp. 408. 1920.
This book adds little to the literature on the subjects covered.
The purpose of the author seems to have been to show that France is
the real friend of Turkey and to defend the Turk from what he con-
siders injustice by the judgment of civilization. The author is decidedly
anti-British, as he finds repeated occasion to attack Great Britain's
policy in the Near East and to show how much more considerate of the
feelings of the Turks the French have been. The interest of America
in the protection of the Christian populations against Turkish atrocities
is charged to "a campaign of Protestant propaganda backed by a puritan
President," and as such is summarily dismissed.
In spite of its political and religious bias, the author gives much valu-
able information regarding the history of the Turkish Empire, its rela-
tions to the European countries, and its entry into the war. Much of the
book is devoted to events connected with the Armistice, negotiations for
a settlement between Turkey and the Allies, and subsequent events, in-
cluding the rise of Mustapha Kemal, and the Mohammedan question
growing out of the settlement of the occupation of Constantinople by the
Allies, the treaty with Turkey, the dismemberment of the Ottoman
Empire, the Moslems in Russia and Turkey, and Turkey and the Slav,
each of which is given a separate chapter. James Barton.
"Pilgrim Papers" by Robert Keable, E. P. Button & Co., New York.
The letters from which this volume is built, were put into the hands
of Mr. Keable by a dying friend, and have been preserved for us as a
record of the striving and serving of a sincere shepherd of souls, Francis
Thomas Wilfrid, priest.
The pages are warm and vivid, human and beautiful. They contain
326 THE MOSLEM WORLD
etchings of the great "Berg" itself, the folk of "Berg" and veldt, and
best of all, of the soul of the "Pilgrim." The "Papers" brings out, with
suggestive touch, some vital problems of method and relationship in
mission work. But our thanks are due chiefly to the fact that the
book quickens mind and heart and spirit to reach out to God and
man with sturdier thought, purer devotion, swifter service and more
tender longing. Mary Fleming Labaree.
Documents Diplomatiques Conccrnant I'Egypte de Mehemet-Ali
Jusqu'en 1920. Reunis par rAssociation Egyptienne de Paris. Ernest
Leroux, Paris. 1920. pp. 212.
Except for the introduction, which is written wholly from a partisan
standpoint and contains grave errors of fact and judgment, this volume
is exceedingly valuable. It gives in a connected series all the declara-
tions of British statesmen from Sir Henry Elliott in 1873 to Lloyd
George and Lord Milner's report regarding Egyptian Independence
and the vexed question of the Protectorate.
It is perhaps the strongest case the nationalists can present and need
not have been marred by partisan statements and a total lack of appre-
ciation of the benefits conferred, e. g. in Eg>'pt under Lord Cromer's
administration. The recent disturbances at Alexandria, and the position
taken by Zagloul Pasha, are a sad comment on such a paragraph as
this from the introduction:
"Tout de suite apres I'occupation, les Anglais chercherent a cacher
leurs appetits sous des dehors de grande moralite.
Comme I'a bien fait remarquer Mohammed Farid bey, le regrette
second chef du Parti National fegyptien, les diplomates anglais n'osaient
qualifier la situation de I'Angleterre en figypte que par des periphrases
et des metaphores sans fondement juridique. L'figypte est tantot "une
fleur qui ne saurait se passer de jardinier," "un malade qui a besoin de
son medicin," "un pupille que doit guider son tuteur;" "notre tache en
figypte, disait Salisbury. . . .nos devoirs. . . ., nos obligations morales. . .,
notre mission. . . ., nos interets. . . . ;" "Notre presence disait Milner,
dans son England in Egypt. . . .notre tutelle. . . .notre influence
notre predominance. .. .un protectorat incomplet et irregulier un
protectorat, mais non un protectorat legal un protectorat deguise."
SURVEY OF PERIODICALS
By Miss Hollis W. Hering, New York
Missionary Research Library
I. GENERAL.
The Arab Case in Palestine. Shibly Jamal. (The Living Age,
Boston. April 8, 11922. pp. 77-83.)
Appeared first in the March issue of the National Re-
viezv of London. Attempts to show the responsibility of the
British Government to keep Palestine for the Arabs, and not en-
courage in it the domination of Zionists. Quotes the League of
Nations and the utterances of various British statesmen to show
the acknowledged support given to the British by the Palestinian
Arabs during the war, and their recognized right to self-determina-
tion in their own country. Author was secretary of the Palestine
Arab Delegation.
Armenia^ British Pledges, and the Near East. Aneurin
Williams. {The Contemporary Review, London. April, 1922.
pp. 418-425.)
It is indisputable that the Armenians have for generations been
intolerably misgoverned ; also that during the war British states-
men made to them repeated and public promises of freedom from
Turkish misrule. This is a brief statement of the obligations which
Britain and her allies incurred towards the Armenians, the man-
ner in which they have failed to meet them, and outlines how,
under present circumstances, the obligations can be honorably and
justly discharged.
The Heritage of the Near East. W. L. Westermann.
{Asia, N. Y. April, 1922. pp. 257-265.)
Discusses the geographic heritage, the heritage by blood (giving
the characteristics of the many different races in the Near East),
the pre-war native movements against Turkish rule, and the Near
Eastern interests of Great Britain and France. Beautifully illus-
trated, with a map of "the peculiarly troublesome and troubled
part of the world that contains the shifting frontier of Occidental-
ism."
The Moplah Rebellion. U. Balakrishna Nair. {The Indian
Review, Madras. February, 1922. pp. 105-108.)
A parallel between the present Moplah rebellion, the Mysorean
conquest of Malabar in the second half of the eighteenth century,
and the revolt of the Pyche Rajah at the dawn of the nineteenth.
The conversions forced by the Moplah fanatics are dwelt upon as a
significant commentary on the much-talked-of Hindu-Moslem unity.
Palestine and Zionism. Jacques Calmy. {The Living Age,
Boston. April 8, 1922. pp. 74-76.)
The summary of an article which appeared in the February i8th
issue of UEurope Nouvelle. The favorable attitude towards
327
328 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Zionism of the various Great Powers has been expressed several
times. On the other hand, the relations between Arabs and Jews
in Palestine do not improve. The Zionists are endeavoring to solve
this problem through increasing the productiveness of the land by
intelligent, hard work. Yet it must always be remembered that
Zionism is interested primarily in building a strong spiritual center
for the Jews, not in any economic or political development of the
country.
Zionism and Palestine. J. Ramsay MacDonald. (The Con-
temporary Review, London. April, 1922. pp. 434-440.)
Present-day Palestinian problems have as a background the du-
plicity of European war diplomacy; as a foreground, suspicions and
fears, traditional hatreds, and economic conflicts. Government
regulation of immigration is called for, propaganda by those of the
old order should be controlled; but the questions give promise of
solution provided the Arab and Jewish workmen are allowed to
work together as one class, uninterfered with by the extremist
leaders of either race.
n. ISLAM IN ARABIA.
III. HISTORY OF ISLAM.
The Abbasids in Asia. S. Khuda Bukhsh. (The Calcutta Re-
view, Calcutta. January, 1922. pp. 62-87. February, 1922.
pp. 266-276.)
The first two installments of a study made by one of the lecturers
at Calcutta University. There are several references to sources in
the foot-notes, but they are chiefly to western authorities. . To be
continued.
IV. KORAN, TRADITIONS, THEOLOGY.
The Question of the Caliphate. Kenneth Ledward. (The
Fortnightly Review, London. April, 1922. pp. 661-667.)
Written with the object of showing "thinking Moslems that the
interests of Islam do not lie with the falling fortunes of Mustafa
Kemal, and that the Osmanlis' title to be 'Commanders' of the
Faithful is historically and morally worthless." There is a brief
resume of the history of the Caliphate, showing, among other things,
that there never has been a Caliph whom contemporaneous and
future Moslems united in acknowledging.
V. RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
Arab Life and Character. Lord Raglan. (The Nineteenth
Century, London. April, 1922. pp. 678-688.)
A picture of the Arab, chiefly as met with in Syria. Sections are
devoted to the Druzes, Tribal Law, Colonies, Dervishes, the Gyp«
sies, the Baramka, and the business of Bedouin raids.
The Religion of the Kurds. G. R. Driver. (Bulletin of the
School of Oriental Studies, London Institution, vol. II., pt. 2.
pp. 197-213.)
There are many varieties of religions among the Kurds, the dom-
inant one being Islam or some corrupted form of it. Here are
SURVEY OF PERIODICALS 329
discussed only those systems more or less peculiar to the Kurds —
the Qizilbash, the Babi, and, most important of all, the Yazidi.
There is included a translation of the document drawn up in 1872-
1873 by the religious leaders of the latter sect and sent to the Otto-
man Government as a protest against their conscription for mil-
itary service.
VI. POLITICAL RELATIONSHIPS.
The Anglo-French Conflict Over Turkey. Henry Wood-
house. {Current History, N.Y, April, 1 922. pp. 57-72.)
Annotated text of hitherto unpublished correspondence betvv^een
the British and French Governments respecting the Franco-Turkish
Angora Agreement, in which Great Britain has insisted on a re-
adjustment of its terms and proposed a new tripartite intervention
in Turkey.
The Ending of the Egyptian Deadlock. Sir Valentine Chirol.
(The Fortniffhtly Review, London. April, 1922. pp. 543-552.)
An interpretation of the government White Book containing the
correspondence between Lord Curzon and Allenby. Step by step
the breaking of the three-months' deadlock is traced, ending with a
cautiously optimistic prophecy for the future of Egypt as an inde-
pendent power.
India and the Moslem Awakening. (Current History, N. Y.
April, II 922. pp. 1-8.)
Quotes Lord Reading's telegram and its insistence on the im-
portance to British rule of a revision of the Treaty of Sevres, and
traces the surge of Mohammedan feeling which caused the Viceroy
of India to send it. Shows how the Moslems in India are seeking to
force the Allies to give Turkey more territory, and pictures vividly
Gandhi's part in the movement.
The Near East. (The Round Table, London. March, 1922.
pp. 319-337-)
The Treaty of Sevres represented the considered and final
decisions of the Supreme Council upon the group of Turkish prob-
lems. Yet peace on its basis is an impossibility. Revision at the
expense of Greece, and on the terms of the Turkish Nationalists
seems to be the only road open, and this is a road opposed to every
intention of the Allies in 1920. How did this come about? And
what are the underlying causes which have produced such a
dark prospect for Greece and the Christian populations of the regions
affected ? Considered under the headings : The Situation after the
Armistice; The Extension of Greece; The Nationalist Movement
in Turkey; The Greek Offensive; and The Treaty of Angora.
The Near Eastern Settlement; Attitude of Moslem India.
Sir Abbas Ali Baig. (The Asiatic Review, London. April, 1922.
pp. 204-208.)
The New Turkey of Mustapha Kemel. Laurence Shaw
Moore. (Asia, N. Y. April, 1922. pp. 302-310.)
An account of Turkish feeling as encountered on a trip from
330 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Inebolu to Angora, taken in order "to learn at first hand something
of the work and aspiration of the Nationalists, (so as to) carry
back to America some idea of what was really going on behind the
lines in Asia Minor." Includes an interview with the Nationalist
leader. Author was teacher at Robert College, and executive sec-
retary of the American Chamber of Commerce for the Levant.
The Present Situation in Egypt. Sir Rennell Rodd. {The
Contemporary Review, London. April, 1922. pp. 409-417.)
Written by a member of the Milner Commission, it surveys the
anomalous position occupied by England in Egypt, some of the ele-
ments which strengthened the national self-consciousness of the
Eg}^ptians and their political evolution, and shows how successive
opportunities for a settlement have been rejected. Closes with a
plea for cordial support to be given to the plans and work of the
High Commissioner, Lord Allenby.
The Turkish Government at Angora. M. Zekeria. {Cur-
rent History, N. Y. April, 1922. pp. 73-75.)
A review of the character of the new Turkish Nationalist Move-
ment; how it is organized, the role it plays in the Orient, its rela-
tion to the Sultan, and its attitude toward Islamic nations. De-
scribes the two fundamental acts of the Nationalist Government —
the Constitutional Law anc^ the National Pact — and emphasizes the
idea that its only ideal is to secure an independent home for Turks.
VII. MOHAMMEDAN MISSIONS.
Dr. Habeeb Salim, of Nablous. A. J. Mortimore. {The
Church Missionary Review, London. March, 1922. pp. 64-66.)
A brief sketch of a C. M. S. doctor. A graduate of the Syrian
Protestant College, he made a notable record in public service, and
as a member of the Palestinian Church Council ; while his medical
and evangelistic services made him beloved wherever he went.
Missions in Persia; Retrospect and Prospect. H. White.
{The C. M. Outlook, London. April, 1922. pp. 67-69.)
Traces the history of the Church Missionary work in Persia
during three periods: from 1 869-1 892, when the ground was
being cleared under the leadership of the Rev. R. Bruce; from
1892 to 1 91 5, a period of building ending in the evacuation of all
mission stations on account of the German invasion; and from the
re-occupation in 191 6 until. . . . ?
Reaching the Moslems of Palestine. Archibald Forder.
{The Missionary Review of the World, N. Y. March, 1922.
pp. 212-213.)
The Moslems of Palestine have become, if anything, more in-
accessible than ever to Christianity by the British occupation of the
country. The work of the colporteur, however, has greatly in-
creased in importance. The Superintendent of the Jerusalem
Branch of the Nile Mission Press here describes the work of the
Colportage Department of the Press, with its promising future.
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS.
Rev. Dwight M. Donaldson is a member of the American
Presbyterian Mission in Persia, and is stationed at Meshed, near
the Afghanistan border.
* * *
Miss I. Lilias Trotter is the pioneer leader of the Algerian
Mission Band, a woman of faith and prayer, whose artistic skill
and ready pen have contributed much to Arabic Christian
literature.
« « «
Rev. Dal ton Galloway and the Rev. R. W. Caldwell are both
members of the United Presbyterian Mission, Egypt, and have
made special studies of Islamics at Hartford Theological Seminary
under Professor Duncan B. Macdonald, D.D.
* * *
Mr. S. A. Morrison, M.A. (Oxon) has been working under
the Church Missionary Society among the student class of Cairo.
He is organizing secretary of the Egypt Alliance of Honor.
Archibald Forder, well known as an independent pioneer mis-
sionary among the Arabs of Northwestern Arabia, has written two
books describing his adventures among them. He is at present in
charge of the Nile Mission Press work at Jerusalem.
* * *
Henri Rusillon, of the Societe des Missions Evangeliques de
Paris, who wrote the notes on ''Islam in Madagascar" is a
missionary in the Boina Avaratra District, Madagascar.
* * *
Canon W . H. T. Gairdner, B.D., is a missionary of the C. M.
S., and is language teacher at the School of Oriental Studies of the
American University, Cairo.
* * *
Rev. J. Robertson Buchanan, of Culross, Fifeshire, Scotland, is
the author of several books, and was for some years connected with
the American University of Beirut, Syria. He has just completed
a report on "Moslem Education in Syria."
MONTGOMERY, WARD & CO.
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A CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF ARABIC
LITERATURE
The chart (frontispiece) is an attempt to show the relative time of the
leading Arabic writers during the thirteen odd centuries of Islam. The
dates given in small figures under the names are the approximate dates
of the death of each writer. For a student who wishes to prepare such
a chart for his own use, it will be best to use a large sheet of millimeter
paper. Many interesting facts can be learned in preparing such a chart.
Of course there is considerable difficulty in securing accurate dates.
Note the absence of writers of importance during the past four cen-
turies. Also the early development of poetry in Arabic, as in all litera-
tures, and the contemporary writers of each period.
Note the long period of over two centuries which elapsed before the
work of collecting traditions was really begun, also the disappearance
of Speculative Philosophy at the end of the sixth century and the con-
sequent rise of the dervish orders under Mysticism.
Note the crystallization of Theology at the end of five centuries leav-
ing no possibility of its development, and how very few Egyptian names
appear in the literary annals of Islam.
All dates in this chart are A.H. To covert to A.D. use the following
formula :
A.H. less 3% plus 622 equals A.D., also
A.D. less 622 plus 3% equals A.H.
Alexandria, Egypt. R. W. Caldwell.
TheMOSLEMWORLD
VOL. XII. OCTOBER, 1922 No. 4
EDITORIAL
WHERE THE STONES CRY OUT
The public museums of Tunis and Algiers, the symbols
of fish and dove and olive-branch in the newly-discovered
catacombs of Sus, the broken columns of ruined churches
from Carthage to Kabyle mountain villages, all bear wit-
ness to a North African Christianity which once flour-
ished like ''trees planted by the rivers of water." Then
came the sirocco-blast from Arabia and turned this fruit-
ful heritage into a desert of Islam — the Garden of Allah.
Instead of the fig tree, the thorn; instead of the myrtle,
the brier; instead of the Magnificat, the muezzin's call;
instead of Cyprian, Tertullian and Augustine with the
Gospel, there came 'Amru, 'Okba and the Senussi with
the Koran. The Christian churches of North Africa
were not only defeated by Islam, but wiped out. There
are today no ''Oriental" Christians in Tripoli, Tunisia,
Algeria or Morocco. Only in Egypt a remnant remained.
Yet God did not leave Himself without a witness. Where
human voices were silenced "the stones cry out of the wall
and the beam out of the timber answers" that Christ once
had dominion in this territory. Shall He have it again?
We were impressed during a recent visit by the elo-
quence of this mute testimony — the indelible record of
these too often forgotten pages of glorious history.^ Who
can stand beneath the twelfth century gateway of Bugia,
where Raymond Lull won the martyr's crown, without
1 Cf. Julius Uoyd. "The North African Church." S. P. C. K., 1880. P. S. Mesnage,
"Le Christianisme en Afrique": 3 vols. (Origine, Decadence, Survivance) Jourdan.
Alger, 1 9 14,
/ 331
332 THE MOSLEM WORLD
being stirred with new resolve? Who can read the in-
scriptions in the catacombs at Hadrumetum (Sus), which
tell of the Good Shepherd and peace through the Blood,
without realizing the patience of unanswered prayer?
Who would not be moved before the ruins of the great
cathedral Damous el Karita, at Carthage, with its bap-
tismal font, or the half-defaced crosses that still adorn
the pillars of the courtyard in the great Kairawan Mosque?
And then last, but not least, the plaster-cast of Geronimo
in the museum at Algiers, his tomb in the cathedral and
his portrait painted by the White Fathers at Maison
Carree — these also cry out. What is the story of his
martyrdom?^
During an expedition made by the Spanish garrison of
Gran in 1540 a young Arab boy was taken prisoner and
baptized under the name of Geronimo. When about
eight years old he again fell into the hands of his Moslem
relatives, and was compelled to live as a Mohammedan
until his twenty-fifth year. But the flame of his early
faith, once kindled, could not be extinguished. He re-
turned to Gran of his own accord, determined to live as a
Christian. In May 1569, he accompanied a party of
Spaniards in a small boat on an expedition against the
Arab pirates. All the members of the little band were
taken prisoners by a Moorish corsair and carried to Al-
giers. There every effort was made by the governor,
himself a renegade, and the Moslem leaders to induce
Geronimo to renounce Christianity. As he remained
steadfast in his faith, he was condemned to death and, in
accordance with a cruel custom (not without parallel
since in Fez and Marrakesh), sentenced to be immured
alive in a block of rough concrete and built into an angle
of the fort then under construction. His feet and hands
were tied with cords and, face downward, the cruel sen-
tence was carried out. The earliest account of this mar-
tyrdom was given by Haedo, a Spanish Benedictine who
2Cf. Murray's "Guide to Algeria and Tunisia" and A. Berbrugger's, "Geronimo.
Le Martyr du Fort des Vinjrt-Quatre-Heurcs a Alger. " iSso Challamel, Paris. Abb6
L. Delevaux, "Geronimo. I'Emmur^ de Babel-Qued. Drame Historique." Alger, 1930.
EDITORIAL 333
published a topography of Algiers in 1612. He carefully
indicated the spot, and wrote : ^'We hope that God's grace
may one day extricate Geronimo from his place and re-
unite his body with those of many other holy martyrs of
Christ whose blood has consecrated this country." In
1853 it was found necessary by the French to destroy the
old fort, and on December 27 in the very spot specified
by Haedo, the skeleton of Geronimo was found. The
bones were removed and buried in the cathedral. Liquid
plaster-of-Paris was run into the hollow mould left by his
body and a perfect model obtained, which shows not only
the outlined agony of his features but the very chords
which bound him and even the texture of his clothing.
All who visit the museum, Kabyles and Moors and Eu-
ropeans, are arrested by this striking plaster-cast of the
youthful Arab in the very hour of his last agony.
Although the Barbary States have waited long for the
coming again of the Evangel, the Cross is today in the
field. The North Africa missionaries, the Southern
Morocco missionaries, the Algerian Mission Band —
brave pioneers all of them — and now the Methodist Epis-
copal Mission with its splendid organization, broad out-
look and strong leadership, have occupied the great
strategic centers. ^^Blessed is he who comes in the Lord's
name." If His messengers were now to keep silent, the
very stones would cry out.
The evangelization of all North Africa, in view of the
present rapidly changing social, intellectual and political
conditions and the present program of missions, is not
only possible but urgent. The doors are nailed open. The
people are everywhere accessible and in many places
wonderfully responsive. There is crying need for re-
inforcement, for men and women who will respond to
the call to reestablish the Church of Christ in North
Africa. S. M. ZwEMER.
MODERN PERSIAN AND AFGHAN
THINKING
If some of our interested friends in Christian countries
could have opportunity to read the newspapers and maga-
zines that appear regularly in the Persian language, they
would see articles from time to time that would suggest,
either from their subject-matter or from the manner of
treatment, that a much greater freedom of thought has al-
ready come to Persia. It is the object of this article to set
forth a few illustrations of this tendency in the Persian
press, and also to show that Christian missionaries who are
working in Persia have sensed the changing situation, and
are meeting the new freedom of thought with bolder and
more direct evangelistic undertakings, and that such
efforts have already been fruitful of gratifying results.
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE
A detailed description of the geography and history of
Palestine appeared in The Iran, one of the Teheran
newspapers, under date of December 21, 1917, when what
was happening in Palestine was attracting considerable
attention in Persia. In narrating the history of Jerusalem,
the writer shows how David made it his capital city, how
the Jewish kingdom was divided, how in later years Cyrus
showed friendship to the Jews, and how after the time of
Alexander the city 'Vas passed from hand to hand," until
it came under the rule of the Herods. Judas Maccabeus
and Herod the Great are mentioned. It is stated that
following the destruction that occurred under Titus the
city was of no considerable political importance until the
reign of Hadrian. One significant sentence is that a very
lofty dome was erected at ^'the place where the Jews had
crucified Jesus Christ." (See Koran, Sura Al-Nisa, vs.
155-6.) It goes on to say that after the city was taken
by Moslems, Christians were still granted the right of
pilgrimage. After referring briefly to the Crusaders, it
334
MODERN PERSIAN AND AFGHAN THINKING 335
says that Saladin took the city from the Christians and that
it has since been in the control of Islam. This article de-
scribes also the cities of Gaza and Hebron, which is now
called Khalil. The city of Nablous is said to be the same
as the Roman Neapolis. Haifa is spoken of as the point
of departure by rail to the Hedjaz. Acca is also men-
tioned, as the place where the founder of the Behai sect
is buried.
The significance of this citation is that the Persian
writer, whoever he was, who wrote this account of Pales-
tine, did so with the desire to be historically accurate, not
from the point of view of various Moslem traditions, but
with access to modern sources.
WHENCE ASCETICISM IN RELIGION?
In the Tazeh Bihar, a Meshed newspaper, an article
appeared on January 20, 1920, continued on the 22d
and the 27th, which was entitled ''Asceticism Among
the Hindoos." The first section treated of asceticism in
general, and declared the purpose of asceticism to be the
control of passions in order to please God. The author
indicated three points of view as to the beginning of
asceticism: first, that it came from the teaching and ex-
ample of Jesus Christ; second, that it originated in the
teaching of Buddha; and third, that it could be traced to
heathen practices of much more ancient times. The writer
shows how the history of asceticism in the Christian
church exhibited its weakness, that its principles are not
sustained by a more careful study of the New Testament,
and that many of its characteristic features can be ac-
counted for only by heathen influences from Greece and
Rome. Similarly, while the teaching of Buddha cer-
tainly had ascetic tendencies, Buddha's search for truth
was not productive of the knowledge desired, and at any
rate, is not to be thought of as the beginning of ascetic
practices in India.
Among the Greek ascetics, Orpheus, Empedocles and
Pythagoras are mentioned, and the influence of the Neo-
336 THE MOSLEM WORLD
philites upon both Jews and Christians is described, show-
ing how special times were appointed for fasting, how
some went naked, and how others isolated themselves in
order to achieve their religious desires. Antonius of
Egypt is also mentioned as having made a vow to keep
silence for the rest of his life.
Insomuch as the civilization of India and of China was
not unknown to the ancient Greeks, the author thinks it
probable that some of these ideas reached the West from
these ancient eastern countries.
He then proceeds to point out varieties of asceticism in
India, referring to the fact that fakirs may be seen riding
on beds of spikes, that sadhus may be found in caves
among the mountains or far out on barren plains. Some
of them have vowed neither to move nor to speak. Others
lie prostrate in the dust or hang themselves by the feet
from branches of trees, with a fire burning on the ground
beneath their heads. Others braid chains into their flesh,
others let their finger nails grow long and turn them over
so that they grow back into the flesh, others put hot
spikes through the calves of their legs, and others learn
to walk on red hot iron — all of this with the idea of pro-
pitiating some divine power by enduring pam or depri-
vation. The parents of a son who dies from such practices
rejoice in the thought that he has earned salvation. And
among certain sects in India, an iron idol, like Moloch,
with fire within, has received infant children as burnt
offerings from their parents. A loud noise is made at the
time so that the cries of the children may not be heard.
In comment on the essay on asceticism which I have
summarized above, I wish to remark that personally I
am proud to live in a country where articles of this sort
are given space and prominence in the daily newspapers.
People who want to think must be given food for thought,
and it is my impression that the editors of papers and
magazines in Persia realize this, and are striving, many
of them, to meet the demand.
MODERN PERSIAN AND AFGHAN THINKING 337
THE LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER.
In the Kaveh, a monthly magazine published by young
Persians living in Berlin, and circulated in Persia, there
has been a series of articles under the heading of 'Tamous
Men of the East and West/' The number published
October 3, 1921, contains the life of Martin Luther. It
starts out by saying that it is generally recognized by
European thinkers that if Martin Luther had not broken
the power and bigotry of the Catholic priesthood, Europe
would not by any means have reached the modern degree
of civilization and enlightenment. He showed that there
must be freedom of thought in religion, and that religion
in itself is not contrary to reason. His work was in the
beginning of the reign of reason, when science and philos-
ophy were taking new life, and with the new freedom of
thought, the Christian religion made rapid progress.
Accordingly the science, civilization, and religion of
Christendom, owe an everlasting debt of gratitude to
Martin Luther.
The article goes on to point out that in Mohammedan
countries to-day there are reforms needed in many lines,
among which the following are mentioned: (i) Con-
sidering others than Moslems unclean. (2) The im-
prisonment of women by the purdah system. (3) The
legalizing of polygamy. (4) The ease of divorce. (5)
Deeming those of religions other than ''ahl-i-kitab" infi-
dels and worthy of death. (6) The restriction of religi-
ous teaching to the Arabic language.
The story of the life of Martin Luther is then narrated,
and throughout there is emphasis on the necessity for
freedom of thought in order that civilization may advance
and intellectual progress be made possible.
DESIRE FOR LEARNING IN AFGHANISTAN.
A brief reference at least must be made in this article
to the quickened intellectual aspirations in Afghanistan,
Persia's neighbor to the northeast. In a little weekly
338 THE MOSLEM WORLD
magazine, published in the Persian language in Kabul,
called the Iman-ul-Afghan, dated the 8th of November,
192 1, I have at hand a full report of an interesting
function before His Highness Amanullah Khan, the Amir
of Afghanistan. A group of young men were being sent
at government expense to study in Europe and America,
and this occasion w^as an official send-ofif. A few quota-
tions from some of the speeches that w^ere made are
suggestive of changes that have been taking place in the
public sentiment of Afghanistan.
First, the Minister for Foreign Affairs addressed the
Amir and the assembled company. ''In the first place,"
he said, ''as one of the fathers of the boys who are going
away, I wish to emphasize that we are to remember that
these young men are leaving their native country as a
patriotic and as a religious duty. Although the Amir
began his reign with a religious war (jihad), that has
improved the position of Afghanistan, nevertheless he is
now undertaking a more important religious war — against
folly and ignorance, in that these our own dearest sons
are being sent abroad to study science and philosophy.
And this is quite in accord with our religion, for we
should take pains to know the science and philosophy even
of the lost peoples. It is not incumbent upon us on this
occasion to weep at the departure of these, our boys, but
to sing and be happy, for there is every probability that
their going will result in the advancement of our country.
We who are fathers are not able, in fact, to express our
gratitude, but can only say to the Amir, our sovereign,
that we thank him, and shout sincerely, 'Long live the
Amir!'"
The Amir himself then arose and replied as follows:
"I am hoping for the good name of these young men,
both those chosen from the people and those of the royal
family. And in regard to this service on my part, if
fortune should favor, and when you return I should be
living, that will be good, and if I should be dead, you
MODERN PERSIAN AND AFGHAN THINKING 339
can come to my tomb and enumerate your accomplish-
ments, one by one, and after that I will rest in my grave
in peace. So now I commit you unto God — go in peace,
and may you return!"
There were other addresses, notably a rather long one
by one of the Afghan schoolmasters, but a most significant
feature followed, namely, the presentation of money con-
tributions, on the part of fathers who were not sending
sons, to help pay the cost of sending this group of young
men abroad to study.
It would indeed be strange if this progress in thought
among Persian speaking peoples were not accompanied
by encouraging results in the work of Christian mission-
aries. I am glad that it is possible for me, quite inci-
dentally and without any special investigation, to give
good news from several widely separated places. First
let me quote a clipping that reached me in a letter re-
cently concerning the work of the Christians in Isfahan,
where the Church of England missionaries are working.
"The great feature of Easter Day at Isfahan this year,
preaching is done by two converted Moslems. The one
192 1, was the Holy Communion service, conducted in
Persian, with one hundred and fifty communicants, at
which six lay readers were licensed, including one
Hebrew Christian, two Armenians, and three converts
from Islam. One Armenian received a license from
Bishop Stileman some years ago, but it is believed that
each Sunday for Moslem converts and adherents. The
this is the first occasion on which Persian Christians have
been set apart publicly in their own church for the work
of evangelists. The offertory on Easter Day and the
Lenten self-denial gifts of the Isfahan Christians were
for the London poor; thus the Church in Persia is
helped to realize that it is the part of the whole Church,
and has responsibility towards poorer brethren in foreign
lands."
And I have at hand a letter from a friend who is work-
ing in Tabriz, in the West Persia Mission, which is under
340 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the direction of the American Presbyterian Board. He
writes as follows: "We are having splendid meetings
each Sunday for Moslem converts and adherents. The
preaching is done by two converted Moslems. The one
was formerly a mullah, and the other is also a well edu-
cated man. They study the Bible and a sort of crude
homiletics with me every week, and I fear they can
already preach better than I can in many regards. God
is granting us the increase too. Two weeks ago two
Moslem women confessed Christ, and last week one man,
and so we hope our church is getting started on a firm
foundation. We have not yet fully worked out the
problem of this body of Moslem converts in relation to
the Assyrian and Armenian members of our church, but
we feel more and more that there must be some distinc-
tion between the organizations, though we hope to keep
all as parts of one body."
Meshed Station, also under the American Presbyterian
Board, is in what is called the East Persia Mission, and
lies in the far northeast corner of Persia, close to the
border of Afghanistan.
On Christmas of the year before the splendid Easter
service mentioned in Isfahan, i. e., Christmas 1920, fifteen
Moslem converts were baptized together in Meshed, and
during January, 1921, organized themselves, with the
\help of the two Presbyterian ministers in Meshed, into a
church, having five ruling elders and one teaching elder.
The ministers ordaining these elders represented the
Presbytery of Pittsburgh and the Presbytery of Phila-
delphia, but the church in Meshed has no technical
denominational affiliation. As yet that has not been ex-
plained to them. When questions come up they search
Paul's letters and the Acts of the Apostles for parallel or
suggestive cases. They have written their own confession
of faith, consistent with the Apostles Creed as far as it is
theological, but including also a statement of standards
for the personal conduct of Christians, and definite sug-
gestions for giving, and rules for the disbursement of
MODERN PERSIAN AND AFGHAN THINKING 341
funds. They have adopted this Statement of Beliefs, as
they call it, as a working basis for the present. At the
request of the Session one of the American ministers
preaches once a month, and the balance of the preaching
is done by their teaching elder, whom they call their
pastor.
A reading room is conducted by the Mission, and it
is practically a Christian Club or Library — their social
center. The pastor is manager of this reading room, but
one of the missionary ministers is at work in his study,
immediately adjoining the reading room, every day except
Sunday, and there it is that he meets and talks with the
prospective enquirers whom the Christians bring to him,
tries to answer questions the Christians come to ask, meets
enquirers for regular instruction, carries on his personal
studies, correspondence, etc. During the year following
the organization of the Meshed Church there were forty-
one adults, all Moslem converts, added on profession in
the entire Meshed field, twenty-six in Meshed, and the
balance in Nishapur, Kafir-kaleh, and Seistan; and there
are other small groups, not yet baptized, in Kuchan, Tur-
bat, and Birjand. These outlying cities have been reached
by the testimony both of Moslem converts and of mission-
aries from Meshed.
The subjects mentioned in this article seem to the
writer to indicate, in the first place, that thousands of
people in Persia have been making progress in thought,
especially in the freedom of thought, and to show in the
second place that many of the Persian people are psy-
chologically ready to accept Jesus Christ as their divine
Saviour, and to band themselves together in groups of
Moslem converts to present the love of Jesus Christ
directly and tactfully to others. It is a time for gratitude
in prayer, and for Christ-guided discrimination in the
employment of time.
D WIGHT M. Donaldson.
Meshed, Persia.
SUPERSTITIONS IN ALGERIA.
Notes Taken at a Series of Lectures Given in the Algiers University^
There are several forms of the Arab language peculiar
to women, each having a name to distinguish it : ( i ) That
which they use when no man is present, characterized
principally by the free use of diminutives, viz: kharshif,
the insertion of new words, and a strict avoidance of any
word connected with magic and evil spirits, or that has
any occult meaning, such as Khamsa. Children pick up
much of this language, but with the boy it is quickly
forgotten. (2) The language spoken to young children,
composed of certain words and expressions, such as for
instance the French word used in that way ''dodo"
(sleep). (3) That which they speak among themselves
when they do not wish the men present to understand,
formed through interpolation, transposition and mis-
pronunciation.
The above three are in addition to the language which
they have in common with the men.
Talismans are divided into two kinds, temporary and
permanent. There are many of the former, as for
instance, when a child is born, a plant is placed over its
cradle to keep away the evil spirits. A knife, a piece of
salt and a pail of water are put at the cradle head for the
same purpose. Water is considered a specially good pro-
tector. A mother, on being asked how she could leave
her tiny baby of two months alone, said, "But it is not
alone, the pail of water is there!" It is thought lucky if
one spills water on himself while drinking. Some of the
talismans are writings from the Koran, which are placed
in the pillow of the cradle or in the cap. A key is also
put in the cap, or, in the case of the poor, a needle, iron
being another thing supposed to have special preserving
property. On hearing of any misfortune, touch iron!
The so-called Fatima's hand is the talisman universally
used, sometimes on the fronts of houses and sometimes on
342
SUPERSTITIONS IN ALGERIA 343
the caps. It may have five fingers, or even only two, in
the case of ignorant people who do not know how to count.
It is represented in a position indicating hostility towards
the evil spirits, which is also one of the Moslem prayer
postures.' Hence the number 5 is thought lucky. If a
mother is asked the age of her child, especially if it is
being admired by the questioner, five will always come
into her answer somewhere. The hand is sometimes put
on the shoulder of an infant to ward off jealousy.
Then there is the tattoo talisman, a special mark used
by the women.
The crescent is also universal. It is a sign of joy, be-
cause all the Moslem seasons of rejoicing begin at the
new moon. It is the emblem of Stamboul. Many are
the different changes in form it has undergone.
A talisman must always have sharp angles so as to
pierce the evil eye, so we find at Biskra a cross is worn
on the forehead. Perhaps it is an old Christian sign. In
Turkey the crescent is kept to remind them of their past
history.
There is another kind of tattoo among the Kabyles, used
by the women out of coquettishness, but by the men to
ward off ailments, i. e., on the forehead, to avert fever
and headache, on the limbs to ward of]F rheumatism. It
is also used to cover certain defects of nature.
There are also prevalent among Moslems paganistic
practices, such as the piercing of the ears, which takes
place when the infant is yet quite young, oblivious of the
fact that the Prophet discountenanced earrings. This
is to ward off Taba, a savage and ferocious spirit, which
they think pursues them. If all the children of a family
die off, owing to disease or to hereditary causes, they say
they have been overtaken by Taba.
Certain metals are used by the Taleb, on which he
writes pieces from the Koran, and gives to people to place
over whatever part of their body is suffering.
1 Cf. Zwemer's "Influence of Animism in Islam," Chapter on Prayer.
344 THE MOSLEM WORLD
The following are some Moslem ideas on creation and
childhood: In some parts women do not go out within
four months of childbirth, lest the child should be affected
physically or intellectually by anyone met in the street.
During this period the mother follows a certain regime,
i. e., making continually certain gestures, which are said
to influence the young life. The hour of birth is thought
to be of great importance, viz: If born at break of day,
the child will be fortunate. If born at 8 o'clock (hour
of work), it will lead a laborious life. If born at mid-
day, it will rise above all circumstances, and its life will
be permeated with sunshine. If born at sunset, it will be
avaricious. If born at midnight, it will find favor with
God, and its prayers will always be accepted by Him.
The way it enters the world is also of importance, viz:
If with closed hand, it will be avaricious. If born with
open hand, it will be generous. If with the tongue out,
it will be given to telling news. According to tradition,
if anything good happens at the time of its birth, it will
be fortunate through life and a blessing to the parents.
If misfortune occurs at its birth, it is looked on as a curse.
But according to some books a child is always a blessing.
Babies are supposed to inherit only the physical
qualities of the mother, the rest is supposed to come from
the father's side. Therefore when choosing a wife they
say, "Consider well the character of the maternal uncles."
Each act of a child seems to have some significance:
A baby boy smiles in its sleep, its angels are saying to it,
"Thy father is dead, and thou wilt inherit all his prop-
erty." A baby boy cries in its sleep, "Thy mother is dead,"
they say, "thy best friend is gone." A baby girl smiles in
its sleep — the angels are saying to her, "Thy mother is
dead, all her jewels are thine." A baby girl cries in its
sleep, "Thy father is dead, thou hast lost thy best friend."
If a child laughs in its mother's arms, it is said to be
conversing with the angels. If it cries, a death is near
(either itself or one of those around it). If some great
SUPERSTITIONS IN ALGERIA 345
crisis is at hand, such as in times of war, grave men stop
in the street to watch the children at play, their actions
determine the issue. Infants are supposed to be of equal
intelligence to grown-up people, because they are sup-
posed to be constantly conversing with the angels. Each
child is said to represent a certain number of angels. It
is thought they see and hear much more than we do, thtis
they are always removed from the vicinity of a dying
person, for if they hear the death cry they will become
dumb.
Some Moslem ideas on maladies are as follows: God
sends illness like health, misfortune, etc. Maladies are
caused by demons, they are also thought to be the result
of magic. The evil eye, for instance, is a great reality,
no one denies its existence: it is a universal fear, certain
mothers in particular living in terror of it. Two of the
ways of warding off the evil of it are: Blessing the
Prophet, or stumbling over a stone, saying certain words,
at which the influence from the evil eye enters the stone
and cracks it.
Whooping-cough, they say, is caused by certain demons,
which tickle the lungs. There are all sorts of remedies
for this, such as giving the child snails and honey, also
taking it to the gas works. This last would seem quite
medical, but it is not so in reality, for they believe the
fumes will drive the demons away. Then in cases where
the cough is at its worst, they stretch the child out flat,
and prepare an instrument with which to cut its throat.
Having pretended to do this, they hold it up three times
as an offering to the demon who they think is after it,
thinking that he will then be satisfied and leave the child
alone.
Convulsions, or ^'maladie des freres," is treated as
follows: When a child is born, at the same time a little
demon is brought into the world, whose birth takes place
in the cupboard or the wall.' If the child is prettier than
2 Of. Zwemer's "Influence of Animism in Islam" (the Qarina).
346 ' THE MOSLEM WORLD
the demon, the latter gets jealous and causes the convul-
sions. The woman then goes round the court, and
standing still in one corner converses with the demon,
beseeching it to leave her little one in peace.
The demon specially feared for the children is called
Taba; in order to deceive it all sorts of things are done.
The following are instances : A black hen is kept in the
room. Immediately the baby is born, it is driven far
away from the house, and woe to him who picks it up,
for the demon enters him instead of the child. Or a dog
is kept in the room, who shares everything the mother
has to eat. The demon enters the puppies. Or the child
is sold. The woman to whom it has been sold comes to
see it, it is told its mother has come, and she calls it her
son, and they all act as if it were so.
Our science does not correspond with that of the Arabs
as regards maladies or remedies. Jealousy in a child is
considered and treated as an illness. At two years of age
it is supposed to foresee the arrival of a little brother
or sister, being in close intercourse with the angels, it
sees them forming the object of its jealousy. This malady
is treated in various ways, viz: An tgg is boiled in quick
lime, the shell taken off it is given to the child to eat. Or
the child is placed on the doorstep with two eggs in its
lap, other children come along and take them, the jealousy
enters them, and the child is then supposed to be healed.
Or it is given '4'eau des tombes'' to drink (i. e., that water
which they take to Marabouts) whilst the mother says
some words to the effect that the heart of the child may
become as cold as the dead body of the Marabout. Or it
may be given water to drink in which a red hot iron has
been cooled.
For hypochondria the child's headdress is taken off
and heated, then the child is rubbed with it.
For a cold they take up a piece of the wool out of the
carpet, put it in their mouth, and then rub it on the fore-
head of the patient.
SUPERSTITIONS IN ALGERIA 347
To cure snoring, they place a cat in a sack, then the
sleeping infant is hit with it, and the snores enter the cat
instead.
As a cure for crying, the child is taken to a Taleb, who
gives it an amulet, or writes certain verses on a plate,
the plate is then filled with water which the child has to
drink. Or they take it to a Marabout. Another cure is
to send all the children away from the house, then when
all is quite quiet, a nut has to be cracked without anyone
present being able to hear the slightest noise, if the nut
does make the least sound in cracking the child will
cry all night. Opium is administered to check crying
from the very first hours of the little one's life. Another
cure is to read a verse from the Koran, the word silent
being repeated three times, upon which the infant is sup-
posed to become instantly silent.
To cure backwardness in walking, eggs are broken on
the child's legs, or it is put on the doorstep, figs and sugar
being put on its knees. As in the case of jealousy, the
one who takes them cures the child. Or the mother goes
from house to house begging for flour to make a cake
with, which when made is placed on the child's lap and
then distributed to the poor.
For weak or short legs, at the time the call to prayer
is heard on Friday, oxide of copper is put in water, a
ring dipped in same is placed round the child's legs, and
it is exhorted to ^^Get up and run, as the faithful run to
prayer."
For backwardness in talking, the baby is made to drink
the bath water of two turtle doves. At Blida the cure for
this is as follows: At the time of the sacrifice seven of
the sacrificed sheeps' tongues are procured, of which the
rhild has to eat. Another cure is to give the child the
tongues of certain birds.
Algiers. I. LiLIAS TrOTTER.
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN
THE KOR'AN.
The resurrection and judgment, as is common knowl-
edge, occupies a large and important place in the Kor'an.
Scarcely is there a chapter without reference to the sub-
ject, and there are five chapters given almost entirely
to the description of the Great Day, one of them (Sura
75) being entitled "The Resurrection." In the mind of
the Prophet there seems to have been as strong a convic-
tion that there is a general resurrection and judgment and
hereafter, as that "There is no god except Allah." So
often does Mohammed place both these convictions side
by side in some such phrase as "belief in Allah and the
last day" that the phrase itself becomes trite.
The subject matter in the Kor'an comes distinctly from
three sources, and this applies as well to the references
to the resurrection and judgment. Mohammed was con-
stantly in contact with Jews and Christians, and while
it is difficult to estimate just to what extent he imbibed
scraps of the Scriptures and foreign ideas, yet, beyond a
doubt, there filtered through his mind much that is
directly traceable to Christian or Jewish origin. A brief
extract from Dr. Macdonald's "Aspects of Islam" (p.
214), will be of interest in this connection: "It is one
of the most outstanding peculiarities of Mohammed's
mind that he could not, apparently, get any clear idea of
a story on hearing it, and far less could he rehearse a
story in distinct historical form after he had once heard
it. The way that such things came to him seems to have
been very much like this: He got a scrap of history; he
got an allusion; he got a telling phrase; he got a hint
of character. He carried that away, and then with that
as a center, and with his broad idea of the story — gener-
ally a very inaccurate idea — as material, he built up for
himself again what he had heard. Or it may have been
some scrap of the Scriptures which he had heard once
348
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 349
or twice; some bit which he had picked up from hearing
the Psalms read; something he had heard at a Christian
service of worship, a phrase perhaps, from the chanting
of the Magnificat; there were many fragments of that
kind of which the words had caught his memory." This
is doubtless clearly exemplified in the following pas-
sages : Sura i6 : 79, "Nor is the matter of the Hour aught
but like the flash of a glance, or nigher still." Sura 57 : 12,
"On the day when thou seest the believers, men and
women, with their light running before them, and on
their right hand; — on the day the hypocrites, both men
and women, say to those who believe, ^Tarry for us, that
we may kindle our light from yours.' Then it shall be
said, 'Return ye back and seek light for yourselves.' But
between them shall be set a wall and a gateway. Its inner
part has in it mercy, and its outer part has over against
it torment." This is undoubtedly Mohammed's version
of the story of the "Ten Virgins."
The eschatological material in the Kor'an is easily
classified into three groups: (i)That which is highly
descriptive, as will be shown later. (2) Warnings. As
a messenger of Allah, Mohammed felt that it was his
great mission to warn men and jinn. And, that he did,
with such warnings about the nature of Allah, the great
day of judgment and the future torment, himself being
the mouthpiece of Allah, that the effect has been very far
reaching. (3) Mere perfunctory references to the resur-
rection and judgment constitute the third group. These
are phrases that seem to roll off the tongue of the prophet
from force of habitual usage ; that have little, if any, bear-
ing upon the context and simply show how accustomed
was the prophet to repeating them. Sura 2: 172, "He is
pious who believes in Allah and the last day, and the
angels and the scriptures and the prophets." Sura 9: 18,
"He only should frequent the worshipping places of Allah
who believes in Allah and the last day, and observeth
prayer, and payeth the legal alms, and dreadeth none but
350 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Allah." There are many such casual references to the
last day.
Another introductory point important to the best
understanding of the material before us, is to think of
Mohammed in proper relationship to his earlier and later
suras. He was first of all a religious enthusiast, and later
on a sober-minded politician. As a revivalist he appears in
the short, snappy, broken sentences of the early poetical
suras. And certainly no revivalist preacher has excelled
him in dangling an audience over the terrors of the future
torments. He had had a vital experience in his ow^n life.
While that experience v^as fresh in his mind, the fervor
of his preaching and w^arnings left their definite impres-
sions. Doubtless in his earnestness, he, himself^ believed
that the resurrection and judgment might come at any
moment. In his busy life as head of "Church and State"
in Medina, quite different is the tone of his messages.
I. Terminology. Before considering the meaning of
the Arabic terms, el-Akhir translated "The last day," and
el-Akhira "the future life," a brief statement regarding
the untrustworthiness of the three English translations of
the Kor'an, is important. In the study of the above w^ords,
as well as in many other references, the statement of Dr.
Macdonald, "Aspects of Islam" (page 88 note) has been
verified: "Palmer was a wonderful linguist and an
admirable scholar in many ways, but his translation has
some most extraordinary blunders, many of which must
have been due to haste. Rodwell's translation is a care-
ful piece of work, but hardly represents the tone of the
original. Sale's can now be neglected."
Of the twenty-six times the word, el-Akhir, is used tin
the Korean, with but one exception — and that where the
word has been used in its literal, historical sense, see Sura
57: 3, "He is the first and the last" — the word is used as a
qualifier of the word day, el-yaum el-Akhir, and is simply
translated literally "the day the last," signifying a definite,
outstanding day in the mind of the prophet. Of the one
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 351
hundred and thirteen times the word el-Akhira (feminine
of the above form), is used in its different cases, four
times only is it used in a literal sense (Suras 17: 7; 28:
70; 29:19; 38:6). For the remaining one hundred and
nine times the translators differ greatly, making use of
the following: 'The future life," ''the future," "the next
life," "the next," "the hereafter," "the life to come," "the
latter day," "the last day," etc. Now with the exception
of the last two translations for the word el-Akhira, the
others, meaning broadly a general period of time after
this life, i. e., the life of the next world over against the
life of this world, might be considered correct. But to
translate el-Akhira as the "latter" or the "last day," as
Palmer and Rodwell both have done, is grammatically
wrong and misleading. In every context the word el-
Akhira signifies the hereafter or the next life and cannot
be applied to the grave, the resurrection or the day of
judgment. With the exception of the one phrase, liqa'
el-Akhira, ""the meeting of the hereafter," which occurs
three times in the Kor'an (Sura 7: 145; 23:34; 30:15),
and indicates that which comes after in the broadest sense,
but in all the other occurrences of the word, el-Akhira,
the immediate context indicates the hereafter in the tech-
nical sense with all that implies for the believer after the
judgment. It is interesting to notice that in most of the
early suras the hereafter implies the period of everlasting
torment, while in the later unpoetical, long sentenced
suras, it refers more often to the period of everlasting
paradise for the believers.
Now in order to find out whether Mohammed had any
thought of a first judgment in the grave, it has been neces-
sary to examine all the Kor'anic words for "grave" and
also for "dust." In doing so we were surprised to find
the absence of the expected. From the enormous later
Moslem usage of these words, around which so many of
the later traditions center, one naturally expects to find
some basis for these traditional usages in the Kor'an itself.
352 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Throughout the Kor'an there are but eight words under
the common Arabic root Q B R meaning to bury. One
of these (Sura 80: 21), is the only verb form, used in the
phrase: ''Thereafter he killed him and buried him." The
other noun forms from this root are merely casual refer-
ences to the grave, and nothing more. Under the Arabic
root L H D from which is derived the noun which might
bear the translations, niche, tomb, vault, grave, of the six
times the root occurs in the Kor'an (7: 179; 16: 105; 41:
40; 22: 26; 18: 26; 72: 23) not a single reference con-
tains the noun form, or has any relation to the idea of
grave. The word lahd, "niche" or extra space made in
Moslems' graves, in which the body may sit upright at
the examination and judgment of Munkar and Nakir, is
not found in the Kor'an. There is another word el-
Ajddth "graves," quite an uncommon word, used in the
same way three times in the Kor'an, but again the refer-
ences, all similar, are to the resurrection rather than ex-
amination or punishment in the grave. (Sura 70:43,
"On the day when they shall come forth in haste from
the graves," also 54: 7; 36: 51.) The word turdb is used
twenty-two times in the Kor'an, and out of that number,
there is but one reference, Sura 16:61, which could be
associated with the word grave or the idea of burial. It
is in connection with the burial of a girl baby, and has no
relation whatever to the resurrection or judgment. All
the other references are to literal dust. Thus it follows
from the study of these terms, that the Kor'an is abso-
lutely silent as regards a judgment in the grave, or
'Azdbul-Qahr, "the punishment of the grave," so common
in the traditions. There are no passages in the Kor'an
describing Munkar and Nakir. The two proof texts
usually given by Arabic commentators (Sura 8: 52 and
47: 29), cannot be considered, since there is not sufficient
in the texts, and nothing in the contexts, to support such
a tradition.
The very few places in the Kor'an that might lead one
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 353
to think that Mohammed considered the idea of an inter-
mediate state, prove on examination, to be quite inade-
quate to support any reasonable conclusions. For
example, in Sura 3: 182, "And only on the day of resur-
rection will you receive your recompenses. Then
whosoever is snatched away from the fire and made to
enter paradise has attained felicity," some interpret
tuwaffauna ujurakum, ''you will be paid in full your
recompenses," as indicating that before the resurrection,
in the grave, some recompenses, either of good or evil, had
already been paid, and the final and complete recompenses
would be made at the resurrection and judgment. But
since Mohammed nowhere mentions the grave as a place
of either rewards or punishments, the only reasonable ex-
planation is that believers did receive certain recompenses
in the life of the world, and that there were certain tor-
ments in this world for the unbeliever, such as at the battle
of Badr. But further, in view of the fact that the persons
addressed in the above passage are believers, and since
the word, ujurakum, "your recompenses," in every other
place in the Korean carries the idea of a recompense of
good and not of evil, it is plain that the above reference
has no connection with the grave, but is a plain assurance
that those who believe will be completely rewarded at the
resurrection, and a part of that reward will be, having
been snatched away from the fire with a complete entrance
into paradise.
Another reference. Sura 19:72, "There is not one of
you who will not go down to it (the fire) ; that is settled
and decided by thy Lord." This is a very strong assertion
that believers as well as unbelievers will, at the great
judgment, see the fire. No soul shall escape the judgment,
on which great day all sorts of terrible events happen,
and only by the mercy of Allah will the believers escape
them all. They will assuredly see the fire, but because
of the mercy of Allah (see Sura 37:55), will they be
snatched away from it.
354 THE MOSLEM WORLD
In Sura 6: 128, where Allah addresses the assembly of
jinn and men, saying: "Hell is your resort, remaining in
it except what Allah pleases,'' and indicating that there
may be those who will be given respite, or that in hell
there will be a purgatory, is simply one of those obscure
passages where Mohammed after a strong assertion, uses
the very common phrase, "except as Allah pleases," but
which can hardly be taken as carrying in it the whole
doctrine of a purgatory. One is inclined to infer from
the frequent use that Mohammed makes of that common
type of phrase, after a strong assertion, that, in many
instances, it means little or nothing (see Sura 11: 109).
In all Mohammed's warnings and descriptions about the
doom of the unbelievers, there is anything but a note of
respite or compromise. Sura 4: 59, "Verily those who
do not believe in our signs, we will broil them at a fire;
whenever their skins are well done, we will change them
for other skins, that they may taste the torment." There-
fore, we are quite ready to conclude that the idea of an
intermediate state, or a judgment and punishment, other
than at the last great day — which was to be final and com-
plete — never entered Mohammed's mind.
The words in the Kor'an for resurrection and judgment
are invariably connected with the word "day." And so,
el-qiydma, literally, "the standing up" or "the rising up,"
occurring seventy times in the Kor'an, is, without excep-
tion, linked with the word day in the phrase, "the day of
rising up," or "the day of resurrection." The word
ed-Din, in the Kor'an has three usages: (i) judgment,
(2) religion, (3) custom. Of the sixteen times that the
context clearly implies that "judgment" is the idea ex-
pressed, only four times (Suras 51 : 6; 82:9; 97:7; 107:
i), is the word found standing alone, i.e., not in the
phrase "the day of judgment." In one of these references,
Sura 107: I, there is a difference of opinion whether the
word means judgment or religion. However, the point to
notice is that, in the mind of the prophet, both the resur-
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 355
rection and the judgment are associated almost exclusively
with the word ''day." For Mohammed, whether speaking
of the signs of the approaching judgment, or of the ter-
rible upheaval in the order of the universe at the resur-
rection, or of the awfulness of the judgment itself, or of
the rewards of the believers and the torments of the
doomed which fall in the midst of it all, to his mind it is
one, great, encompassing occasion. For him it all comes
under the idea of a great and terrible day, the last day, the
promised day, the encompassing day, the great day, the
hard day, etc. It is the day he emphasizes throughout
the Kor'an in such a wonderful variety of names and ex-
pressions. And these, on account of their interest and
strangeness, will be given in detail later.
II. The Judged. To Mohammed, the great day was
an all-encompassing day {yaum muhit) . No one would
escape it. Believers as well as unbelievers, men and
women, families and nations, jinn, and even the beasts of
the earth, in fact all the creatures of Allah, would be
gathered together for judgment on that day. The follow-
ing references indicate that not only every soul shall be
judged, but that every soul shall stand out at the judgment
on its own individual merits :
Sura 3: 182 "Every soul Is a taster of death, and you will be paid
your recompenses on the day of resurrection."
16: 112 "The day when every soul comes disputing for itself, and
every soul shall be paid in full what It has wrought, and
they shall not be wronged."
20: 15 "Verily the hour is coming, I almost make It appear, in
order that every soul may be recompensed for its efforts."
" 21 : 48 "I will place just balances upon the resurrection day, and
no soul will be wronged at all, even though It be the
weight of a grain of mustard seed we will bring It, for
we are sufficient as reckoners."
" 27 : 89 "And the day when there will be a blowing on the
trumpet, and all who are in the heavens and In the
earth shall be startled, except whom Allah pleases, and all
shall come abjectly to him."
" 29:9 "But no burdened individual shall bear the burden of
another burdened Individual; then to Allah will be your
return; then he will inform you as to what ye are
doing."
356 THE MOSLEM WORLD
" 78 : 41 "On the day when each man will look upon that which
his two hands have sent forward; and the unbeliever
will say: 'Would that I were dust'!"
" 82: 19 "On the day when no soul will control aught for an-
other soul ; and the command on that day will belong to
Allah."
" 99: 6 "On the day when men shall come in separate bands to
show their works, and he who does the weight of an
atom of good shall see it! and he who does the weight
of an atom of evil shall see it!"
** lOi : 5 "And as for him whose balances are heavy, he is in a
well-pleased life. But as for him whose balances are
light, his dwelling shall be in the pit of hell." (See also
3:28; 19:72; 23: 105; 30:42; 31:32; 44:4^1; 50:20;
60:3.)
There is little mention of women in Islam eschatology.
Inasmuch as women and men are spoken of separately,
the silence as to the place of believing women in paradise,
or unbelieving women in the abode of the doomed, is one
of the idiosyncrasies of the Korean and Islam in general.
But references are not altogether lacking. Such as they
are, they imply that women, as well as men, are judged,
saved and condemned.
Sura 33 : 35 "Verily the Moslem men and Moslem women, and the
believing men and the believing women, and the devout
men, and the devout women, and the patient men, and
the patient women, and the truthful men and the truth-
ful women — Allah has prepared for them forgiveness
and a mighty reward."
" 33: 73 "lr» order that Allah might torment the hypocritical men
and hypocritical women, and the male polytheists and the
female polytheists; and that Allah may turn relenting
towards the believing men and believing women; verily
Allah is forgiving merciful."
" 47:21 "For know that there is no god but Allah, and seek
pardon for thy sin, and for the believing men and the
believing women, for Allah knows your place of coming
and going, and your final destination." (See also 57: 12,
13; 71:29; 9:68, 69; 48:6.)
There are two other references of a different kind, one
in the Sura of the "Folding Up," in connection with the
female child that was buried alive. Sura 81 : 8, 9. And
the other is in Sura one hundred and eleven, containing
the very striking picture of the wife of Abu Lahab carry-
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 357
ing sticks for the flaming fire at which her husband will
be scorched, ''His wealth and that which he has gained
have not availed him. He shall burn at a fire — a flaming
fire! And his wife the carrier of the sticks!"
Mohammed undoubtedly emphasized the doctrine that
every individual would be judged on his own merits. The
chance for intercession on the judgment day was nil. But
there are a few references to families and nations in con-
nection with the judgment that are interesting for the
sake of contrast:
Sura 14:42 Abraham says: "Lord forgive me and my parents and
the believers, on the day the reckoning arises."
" 39: 17 "Say: Verily the losers are those who make a loss of
themselves and of their families on the day of resurrec-
tion."
" 66:6 "O ye, who believe! protect yourselves and your fam-
ilies against a fire whose fuel is men and stones!" (See
also 42: 44.)
" 45 : 26 "And on the day when the hour shall arise, on that day
those who work vanity lose. And thou shalt see each
nation gathered together; each nation summoned to its
book; 'Today are ye rewarded for that which ye were
doing'!"
That the jinn are to be judged like mankind is assumed.
The Kor'an is a warning to them as well as mankind.
Among the jinn are those who believe, and those who are
unbelievers; there are those who are saved, and those
who are doomed:
Sura 6: 128 "The day he assembled them all. 'O assembly of the
jinn! ye have got advantage to yourselves out of man-
kind!' and their companions of mankind shall say, *0
our Lord, we got advantage one of us from another;'
but we have reached our appointed term which thou hast
fixed for us.' Says he, 'The fire is your abiding place,
remaining in it, except as Allah wills' !"
" 6: 130 "O assembly of jinn and men! did not there come to
you apostles from among yourselves, relating to you our
signs and warning you of the meeting of this very day
of yours?"
" 7:36 "Enter ye into a nation which has passed away before
you, both of jinn and mankind — into the fire!"
358 THE MOSLEM WORLD
" 7^ 178 "We have assuredly sown* for hell many of the jinn and
mankind."
" 32: 13 "I will certainly fill hell with jinn and men all to-
gether."
" 51:56 "I have not formed the jinn and men except that they
may serve me."
" 46: 17 "There are those against whom the sentence was due
among the nations who have passed away before them
of jinn and men; verily they have been the losers."
" 72:111 "And ye, of us are the good, and, of us are other than
that." (This verse is taken from the Sura of the jinn,
where the prophet is repeating the testimony of the jinn
themselves.'
The references in the Korean stating that the beasts of
the earth will be brought before the judgment are few.
But they are of sufficient importance to establish a basis
for many later traditions. In Sura 81, highly descriptive
of the resurrection, there is a reference to the wild beasts
being crowded together, as though they were seeking
cover from a terrible storm: ''And when the timid wild
beasts are gathered together." Some hold that this has
reference to their being gathered for the judgment. The
word, wuhushj ''the timid wild beast" such as the gazelle
or wild cow, used in this verse, is the only occurrence of
the word in the Kor'an. The other references where the
word, ddbba, a more common word for beast is used, are
the following:
Sura 6: 38 "There is not any beast in the earth, nor a bird flying
with both its wings, but they are peoples like to you ; we
have omitted nothing from the Book; then to their Lord
shall they be gathered."
" 42 : 28 "Of his signs is the forming of the heavens and the earth,
and that which he has scattered in them consisting of
beasts, and he is able to gather them whenever he wills."
" 11:8 "And there is not of the beasts of the earth except its
provision is from Allah; he knows their place of abode
(here) and their place of committal (in death) ; each is
in a clear Book."
III. The Approach of the Day. Later Islam has made
much of the approach of the day of judgment, and
•This word has perplexed the Arab commentators. It really means to sow seed — the
generation of plants and animals — in every instance. Baidawi gives it the more dignified
meaning of creation, but this is not its real meaning.
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 359
especially of the signs, or, literally, el-Ishdrat, ''the point-
ings out" foreshadowing that approach. These signs,
known in tradition as the lesser and greater signs, con-
stitute a great program of absurd and detailed happenings
covering a considerable period of time prior to the
approach of the hour. The coming of the hour itself,
of course, is only known to Allah, the basis for which
position is clearly emphasized in the Kor'an, as will be
shown later. But later Islam further makes much of the
events that take place between the coming of the hour and
the time of the resurrection. This again is quite different
from what is in the Kor'an on the subject. The phrase
^'Ishdrdt eS'Saa, ''the pointers to the hour," is not in the
Korean, nor even the word ishdrd. Four times only in
the Kor'an (Sura 7: i86; 31:34; 41:47; 43:85) do
we find a word in the context with the word hour, as
in the phrase "knowledge of the hour." But this knowl-
edge is something in the possession of Allah alone.
Similarly we find in the Kor'an that Mohammed stresses
the fact of the certain approach of the hour; that he gives
wonderful descriptions as to what will happen "on the
day," or "when the hour shall arrive" ; that it will come
suddenly and without warning, but Mohammed does not
commit himself to any program of events previous to the
hour.
Mohammed frequently uses the word Aya, meaning
broadly "a sign." With it he indicated two quite different
things : ( i ) Evidentiary miracles — In our sense supernat-
ural events worked by prophets as evidence of the truth of
their mission (see Sura 27: 13), (2) Analogy of Nature,
i. e. the occurrences of nature, by which man ought to be
led to a knowledge of Allah (Sura 36: 33, 37). Moham-
med always said that he did not work the first kind — the
prophets had come working such miracles, but men had
not believed in the prophets any more on account of such
signs. He himself came with a self-evident, self-witness-
ing message, and in confirmation he pointed men to the
36o THE MOSLEM WORLD
fact that that message was in exact analogical conformity
with what they themselves might learn about Allah from
the ordinary operations of nature. These ordinary op-
erations testified that there would be a resurrection and
judgment, but could give no sign as to the coming of the
great day; that, Allah himself alone knew. The sign of
the approach of the hour to Mohammed was the great day
itself — the hour, the resurrection, the judgment, the tor-
ment, the fire, the garden, all combined. To try to show
any order or sequence of events in the mind of Mohammed
is quite out of the question.
The passages in the Kor'an that might be construed as
"sign passages," i. e., those seeming to indicate events
prior to the day itself, reveal on examination, that they are
simply coincident with many other happenings during
the day. For example, the blast of a trumpet is nowhere
spoken of as preceding the day or the hour, as one might
suppose. One might imagine that the trumpet blowing
would be spoken of in connection with the very first evi-
dence that the last day was approaching, and so be
associated with the hour, but in not one of the trumpet
passages is the word hour mentioned. There are ten
passages in the Kor'an referring to the blowing of the
trumpet, and in each one, the trumpet blowing seems to
have a fresh significance for Mohammed. There is here
no thought of such a number or order of blasts as is given
in the traditions. The uppermost thing in Mohammed's
mind was the great day, and not the minor detail :
Sura 50: 19 "And the trumpet shall be blown — that is the threatened
day."
" 20: 102 "On the day when there will be a blowing on the trumpet
and we will gather the sinners blue-eyed (i. e. blind).
" 36:51 "And there will be a blowing on the trumpet, and, be-
hold, they from the graves unto their Lord will issue
forth."
" 69:13,15 "And when there is a blowing on the trumpet, a single
blast, and the earth and the mountains are carried away,
and then both crushed with a single crushing, on that day
the event will happen."
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 361
" 78: 18 **On the day when there will be a blowing on the trum-
pet, and then ye will come in bands, and the heavens will
be opened, and then they will become doors and the
mountains will be set journeying and then they will
become a mirage." (See also Sura 18:99; 23:103;
27:89; 3968; 6:73.)
There is another group of passages to be examined in
connection with the approach of the day, strengthening
the idea expressed above that they are not meant to be
taken as events prior to the day, but of the day itself :
Sura 33:63 "The people will ask j^ou about the hour. Say: 'The
knowledge of it is with Allah only. And what is to make
thee know perhaps the hour is near'? Verily Allah has
cursed the unbelievers, and has prepared for them a
blaze." (The people had asked Mohammed in derision
when the hour was coming, or wanted some sign about
it. The answer was a warning even to the prophet —
Allah only knew, but it might be near!)
" 54: 7 "On the day when the summoner will summon to a ter-
rible thing, with their eyes downcast will they come
forth from their graves." (The summoning, and the
"terrible thing," which is the day itself, and the coming
forth from the graves, all take place "on the day.")
" 50: 40 "Listen for the day when the crier shall cry from a near
place — the day they shall hear the shout, assuredly 'hat
is the day of coming forth." (See also Sura 6: 159;
5-1 : 12, 13.)
Another reference. Sura 43 : 61, is uncertain in reading
and obscure in meaning, and it cannot be considered as
bearing any weight one way or another as regards the signs
of the hour. We only mention it because it is well known
for its obscurity and the difficulties it has given to com-
mentators and translators.
We come now to the group of passages that clearly show
that only Allah himself knows about the coming of the
hour:
Sura 31: 34 "Verily Allah, with him is the knowledge of the hour."
" 7: 186 "They will ask you about the hour, for what time is its
coming fixed. Say: 'The knowledge of it is only with
my Lord.' " (See S. 33 : 63 ; 79: 42.)
" 43 : 85 "And with Him is the knowledge of the hour, and to
him shall ye be brought back."
362 THE MOSLEM WORLD
" 53 : 58 "The drawing nigh (hour) draweth nigh, there is no
one except Allah as its discoverer."
" 41 : 47 "And unto Him goes back the knowledge of the Hour.**
Another interesting group of passages pertaining to the
coming of the resurrection and judgment are those
emphasizing the suddenness of its coming. In all these
passages, with the exception of the first, the same word,
baghtatan, "suddenly," is used:
Sura 16: 79 "Nor is the matter of the hour but like the flash of a
glance, or nigher still."
" 7: 186 "It (the hour), will not come to you save suddenly."
" 12: 107 "Do they then believe that an overwhelmer of Allah's
punishment is coming to them or that the hour is coming
to them suddenly, while they are unaware?"
" 22 : 54 "And those who are unbelievers will continue to be in
doubt thereof, until the hour comes to them suddenly, or
there comes to them the torment of a barren day."
" 43 : 66 "Do they expect aught but the hour, that it will come
suddenly to them while they are unaware?"
(See also 6:47; 21:41,* 26:202; 29:53; 39 ^5^;
47:20.)
IV. The Great Day Itself. A clear and comprehensive
view of the last day, as Mohammed pictures it in the
Kor'an, with wonderful descriptions of the multitudinous
events of the day, and warnings concerning these events,
is only possible by reading the Kor'an in the original.
Our purpose here is merely to touch upon some of the
highly descriptive passages, as well as to bring out some
other points of interest about the great day itself.
(i) The Place of the Resurrection and Judgment.
Islam is agreed on this point that the judgment is to take
place upon the earth, but there is quite a difference of
opinion as to what kind of an earth it will be on that day.
It is clearly stated in the Korean that this earth will be
completely changed into that which is other than this
earth. Sura 14: 49, ''On that day wherein the earth shall
be changed for that which is other than the earth and the
heavens.'* And certainly if what is described about it
comes to pass, it will be a place quite different than it is
at present:
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 363
Sura 81: 1-3 "When the sun is wrapped around (like a turban) ! and
when the stars swoop down ! and when the mountains are
set traveling!"
" 82: 1-4 "When the heaven is cleft asunder! And the stars are
scattered 1 And when the seas gush together ! And when
the graves are ransacked !"
" 89:22 "Nay! when the earth is crushed a crushed crushing!"
" 99: 'I -5 "When the earth quakes her quaking! And when the
earth will cast out her burdens!"
" 69: 14 "And the earth shall be borne away and the mountains
too, and both be crushed with a single crushing!"
(See also Sura 70:6; 18:45.)
(2) The Length of the Judgment Day. There are
two verses in the Kor'an that, according to some com-
mentators, indicate the length of the last day. In Sura
32: 4, if it is the day that is here described, it is to be a
thousand years in length. In Sura 70: 4, it is described
as lasting fifty thousand years. Naturally these two refer-
ences have given a great deal of trouble. Some hold that
they do not refer to the day of judgment, but that it is
the period of time previous to the judgment, or, that it is
the length of time it would take a man to make the
distance between heaven and earth, traveling as man
travels, so great is the distance. But with the angels this
distance is covered in a day. But whatever interpretation
is given to the two verses, it is quite plain that they must
be considered as attempting to describe the same thing.
Personally I prefer to think that the day of judgment is
described, as the context (as far as one is able to take into
consideration Kor'an context), seems to indicate. How-
ever, whatever was in the mind of Mohammed, we can be
quite sure that he was not concerned about the logic and
exactness of his statements, so much as he was intent upon
leaving upon the minds of the Arabs the deepest possible
impression. Here again he was not thinking about details,
but intent upon picturing the importance of this terrible
day of reckoning.
(3) Variety of Names and Expressions for the Last
Day. That Mohammed's eschatological doctrines pro-
duced in his own mind a deep reflex impression is quite
364 THE MOSLEM WORLD
clear. He was constantly referring to the last day. The
repetition of the more common phrases becomes monoto-
nous. But besides this, throughout the entire Korean,
there is an extraordinary variety of names and different
expressions for the last day. Apart from the interest that
such a variety of epithets has for us, perhaps the principal
observation to be noted is the extent to which Mohammed
has become obsessed with the thought of the final day of
judgment, (a) The Names. The first seven are given
in order of frequency the numbers in parentheses indicat-
ing their occurrence in the Kor'an:
Sura 2 : 79 The Day of Resurrection. ( 70)
" 7:7 That Day. (62)
" 6:31 The Hour. (40)
" 2:7 The Last Day. (25)
" 1:3 The Day of Judgment. (14)
" 2:45 A Day. (10)
" 6: 15 A Great Day. ( 7)
" 11:3 A Large Day.
" 1 1 : 28 A Painful Day.
" HI : 85 An Encompassing Day.
" 22 : 54 A Barren Day.
76: 10 A Frowning, Calamitous Day.
" 74: 97 A Hard Day.
" 76: 27 A Heavy Day.
" 56:50 A Well Known Day.
" 34:6 A Terrible Thing.
" 52:58 The Approaching.
" 78 : 39 The True Day.
" 85 : 2 The Promised Day.
" 56:2 The Happening.
** 81:1 The Overwhelming.
" 19:40 The Day of Sighing.
" 44:40 The Day of Separation.
" 32:29 The Day of Conquest.
" 40: 15 The Day of Meeting.
" 50: 41 The Day of Going Out.
" 40:34 The Day of Crying Out.
" 42 : 5 The Day of Gathering.
" 50: 19 The Day of Threats.
" 64:9 The Day of Reciprocal Over-reaching.
" 30: 56 The Day of Awakening.
" 15: 38 The Day of the Fixed Time.
" 26: 189 The Day of the Covering.
" 50* 33 The Day of Continuance.
" 40:28 The Day of Reckoning.
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 365
(b) Descriptive Expressions About the Day. A few
of these expressions occur as often as ten times. Those
of more frequent occurrence head the list:
Sura 3 : 7 The day whereof there is no doubt.
" 6: 22 The day when we shall assemble them all together.
" 6: 73 The day when there shall be a blow^ing on the trumpet.
" 30: II The day when the hour shall rise.
" 14: 42 The day when the reckoning rises.
" 40:54 The day the witnesses stand up.
" 2 : 255 A day in which is no trading, no friendship and no inter-
cession.
" 3 : 28 The day that every soul shall find out what it has done.
" 3: 102 The day when faces will be whitened and faces will be
blackened.
" 5 : 108 The day when Allah shall assemble the messengers.
" 6: 1159 The day when some signs will come.
** 7: 13 The day they are awakened (or quickened).
" 7:51 The day when its interpretation comes.
" 9-35 The day when it (wealth), shall be heated in hell.
" 9: 78 The day they will meet Him.
" 1 1 : 1 1 The day it comes to them, there is no averting it.
" 11: 107 The day when it comes no soul shall speak, save by His
permission.
" 14: 43 The day in which eyes shall stare.
" 14:44 The day the torment will come to them.
" 14:49 The day when the earth will be changed to that which
is other than the earth and the heavens.
" 16:86 The day when we shall raise up from every nation a
witness.
" 16:112 The day when every soul will come to dispute about itself.
" 17: 54 The day He calls you.
" 17: 73 The day when we shall call all men by their leader.
" 18: 45 The day when we will set going the mountains.
" 19: 39 The day they shall come to us.
" 21 : 104 The day when we will roll up heaven like a writing roll.
" 22: 2 The day ye shall see it (the earthquake of the hour).
" 24: 24 The day when their tongues, hands and feet, will witness
against them.
" 24: 37 A day when hearts and eyes shall be upset.
" 24: 64 The day when they will be returned to Him.
" 25 : 24 The day they will see the angels.
" 25 : 27 The day when the heavens are split apart.
" 26:88 The day when neither wealth nor sons shall be of any
benefit.
" 29: 55 The day when the torment shall cover them from above
them and from beneath their feet.
" 30:42 The day from Allah which none can put back.
" 31 : 32 A day when a father shall not atone for his child.
" 32 : 4 A day the measure of which is a thousand years.
366 THE MOSLEM WORLD
" 33:66 The day when their faces will be turned (from side to
side), in the fire.
" 34: 29 A day the appointed time of which ye will not keep back
an hour or advance it.
" 40: 35 The day when ye shall turn your backs, fleeing.
" 40:55 The day when their excuses avail.
" 41: 18 The day when the enemies of Allah shall be gathered
unto the fire.
" 44:9 The day when the heavens shall bring obvious smoke
" 44: 15 The day we shall seize with a great seizing.
" 44: 41 The day when a kinsman shall not avail a kinsman at all.
" 46: 19 The day when those who misbelieve will be exposed to
the fire.
" 46:34 The day they see what threatens.
" 50: 29 The day we will say to hell, 'Are you full?'
" 50: 40 The day when the crier shall cry.
" 50:41 The day they shall hear the shout.
" 50:43 The day that the earth shall be split apart.
" 51 : 13 The day when they shall be tested on the fire.
" 52:9 The day when the heavens shall be agitated.
" 52: 13 The day they shall thrust back unto the fire of hell.
" 52: 46 The day when their deceit will not enrich them at all.
" 54: 6 The day when the summoner will summon to a terrible
thing.
" 54: 48 The day when they shall be dragged into the fire on their
faces.
" 57:12 The day when thou shalt see the believers, men and
women, running on with their light before them.
" 57: 13 The day when the hypocrites shall say: 'Wait for us
that we may kindle at your light!'
" 58: 7 The day when Allah shall awaken them all together.
" 66 : 8 The day when Allah will not disgrace the prophet and
those who believe with him.
" 68 : 42 The day when a shank shall be bared.
" 70: 4 A day the length of which is fifty thousand years.
" 70:42 Their day which they have been promised.
" 70: 43 The day when they will come forth from the graves hur-
riedly.
" 73: 14 The day when the earth and the mountains shall quake.
" 76: 7 A day the evil of which is dispersed abroad.
" 77 : 35 The day when they will not utter a sound.
" 78: 38 The day the spirit and the angels shall stand in ranks.
" 78:41 The day when man shall see what his two hands have
sent forward.
" 79 : 6 The day when the quaking quakes.
** 79*35 The day when man shall remember that for which he
strove.
" 79:46 The day they shall see it (the hour).
" 80: 34 The day man shall flee from his brother.
" 82: 19 The day when a soul will not control for a soul a thing.
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 367
" 83 : 6 The day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the
worlds.
" 86 : 9 The day when the secrets shall be put to the test.
" lOi : 3 The day when mankind shall be like scattered moths.
(4) A Variety of More Detailed Descriptions of the
Events of the Day. This group of lurid pictures is prac-
tically all found in the earlier, poetical suras. These
extracts reveal to what extent Mohammed made use of his
vivid imagination in bringing before his hearers the
terrors of the last day:
Sura 7 : 48, 49 "But those of the fire shall cry out to those of paradise,
'Empty upon us water, or of that with which Allah sus-
tains you.' They say : 'Allah has prohibited them both to
the unbelievers; those who take their religion for sport
and play, and whom the life of this world deceives.' So
to-day we forget them as they forgot the encountering of
this, their day, and as they denied our signs."
" 11: 100 "He shall approach his people on the resurrection day,
and take them down to water at the fire — an evil place of
water at which to water. They are followed in this
(world) with a curse, and on the resurrection day an evil
help in that which is helped."
" 29:12,24 "But they shall surely bear their own burdens and bur-
dens with their burdens On the resurrection day ye
shall deny each other and curse each other, and your place
of shelter shall be the fire, and ye shall have none to help."
" 50: 29 "On that day we shall say to hell: 'Art thou full?' and
it will say, 'Are there any more'?"
" 56:40,51 "And they of the left! what about them of the left?
blasts and scalding water! and a shade of black smoke!
Then ye — O ye strayers and givers of the lie! — will eat
of the trees of Zaqqum! then fill your bellies of them!
then ye will drink upon it of scalding water! and ye will
be drinking like camels, mad with thirst! This is their
honorable reception on the day of judgment!"
" 75 : 7 "And when the sight will be dazed, and the moon be
eclipsed, and the sun and the moon are joined ! while man-
kind shall say on that day, 'Where is a place to escape?'
Nay! there is no place of refuge! (mountain stronghold).
Unto the Lord on that day is the resting place!"
" 75 : 24 "Faces on that day will be dismal! Thou wouldst think
that there was done to them a back-breaking calamity !"
" 80: 40 "Faces on that day shall have dust upon them! blackness
shall cover them! Those are the wicked unbelievers!"
" 81:7 "And when souls shall be paired ofiE — and when the pages
shall be spread out! and when the heavens shall be flayed
off! and hell shall be set ablaze! and when paradise shall
368 THE MOSLEM WORLD
be brought nigh, the soul shall know what it has pre-
sented !"
" 83: 15 "Nay, verily they are veiled from their Lord on that day!
and then, they shall verily broil in hell ; again it shall be
said, 'This is that to which ye used to give the lie' !"
" 88: 2 "Faces on that day shall be shamed! labouring! toiling —
they shall broil upon a burning fire ! They shall be given
to drink from a boiling spring, no food shall they have
except from the Daril (a bitter, thorny shrub), which
shall not fatten nor suffice against hunger!"
(5) The Variety of Warnings About the Last Day.
Obviously, the Kor'an is a book of warnings! The words
of the warner sound out an alarm upon almost every page
of the book. To warn was the prophet's mission. In
reading the Kor'an, it is often difficult to remember that
Mohammed is reproducing the direct speech of Allah;
that the warnings are Allah's, and not Mohammed's, the
prophet simply being the mouthpiece or. messenger of
Allah.
It is interesting to observe, however, that there is a
striking contrast between the warnings of the earlier and
the later suras. There is a distinct difference between the
impassioned utterances of the poet-preacher, found in the
short, and often broken sentences of the early suras, and
the more prosaic, didactic style of the politician at
Medina, revealed in the later suras. In the later suras
the great day of judgment was not less real to the prophet,
perhaps, than at first, but it was doubtless pushed farther
into the future. In the earlier suras the warnings, spring-
ing out of a new and intense conviction of the reality of a
great judgment, produced converts to the faith. In the
later warnings the context indicates that they were usually
addressed to the believers, or to what might be termed
semi-believers, those who were believers for convenience's
sake. And so the mention of the last day in the later suras
was anything but a gentle reminder to believers who were
negligent of their duties under the rule of the prophet.
It is significant, also, to notice that in the later suras the
words of the prophet are more in evidence than the direct
speech of Allah. For technically, while the words are the
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 369
words of Allah, the ideas and objects of the prophet him-
self appear behind them.
(a) Warnings from the early Meccan suras:
Sura 78 : 40 "Verily we have warned thee of a torment that is nigh !
the day when man shall see what his two hands have sent
forward ! and the unbeliever shall say, 'Would that I were
dust!'"
" 77: 45 "Woe on that day to those that give the lie! eat and en-
joy yourselves for a little! verily ye are sinners! Woe on
that day to those that give the lie!"
" 79:34 "And when the great overwhelming comes! on a day
when man shall remember what he strove after! and hell
shall be brought out for him who sees! and as for him who
exceedeth the bounds and is a preferrer of the life of this
world, verily hell is the resort!"
" 82 : 9 "Nay, but ye lie concerning the judgment ! but verily over
you are guardians, noble, writing down ! they know what
ye do!"
" 89: 22 "Nay, when the earth is crushed with a crushed crushing!
and thy Lord shall come and the angels rank on rank ! and
hell in that day shall be brought! on that day man shall
be reminded! But how shall he have a reminder? He
will say, 'Would that I had sent something forward for
my life!' for on that day no one shall be tormented with a
torment like his!"
(b) The warnings of the later suras:
Sura 2: 278 "O ye who believe! fear Allah and remit the balance of
usury, if ye are believers! and if ye do not do it, listen to
a proclamation of war from Allah and his messenger —
fear the day wherein ye shall be returned to Allah, and
then every soul will be paid in full what it has earned !"
" 3 : 71 "Verily those who sell Allah's covenant and their faith
for a small price, those have no portion in the future life,
and Allah will not speak to them and will not look upon
them on the day of resurrection, and will not purify them;
and for them is painful torment."
" 9« 38,39 "O ye who believe! what was the matter with you when
ye were told to march forth in the way of Allah, and ye
sank down heavily upon the earth ? Are ye better pleased
with the life of this world than the next? Unless ye
march forth, he will punish you with painful torment, and
will put in your stead a people other than you ! ye cannot
hurt Him at all, for Allah is mighty over all."
" 22: 23,25 "Verily those who slander virtuous women, the careless,
believing women, will be cursed in this world and the
next, and for them is a great torment ; the day when their
tongues and their hands and their feet shall bear witness
against them of what they did, on that day Allah will pay
370 THE MOSLEM WORLD
them their real recompense, and they know that Allah is
the plain reality."
" 66: 8 "O ye who believe! protect yourselves against a fire whose
fuel is men and stones — O ye who believe ! turn repentant
to Allah with sincere repentence, it may be that thy Lord
will cover for you your offences, and will bring you into
the gardens beneath which rivers flow! — the day Allah
will not disgrace the prophet and those who believe with
him."
(6) No Hope for Intercession on the Last Day. The
predominant note in the Korean on the matter of inter-
cession before Allah affords little hope either to the be-
lievers or unbelievers. If there is any gleam of hope for
the believers (and apparently the traditions have made
considerable of it), it is only found in Mohammed's
^4oophole" expression, ''except as Allah w^ills." Natu-
rally to the Oriental the warning of no intercession must
have had no small effect. The most important passages
showing Mohammed's position on the subject are as
follows :
Sura 2 : 44,45 "Fear a day when no soul shall pay recompense for an-
other soul, nor shall intercession be accepted for it."
" 2:256 "Allah! there is no god but He, the living, the self-
subsisting. Slumber takes him not nor sleep. His is what
is in the heavens and in the earth. Who is it that inter-
cedes with him save by His permission?"
** 56:50,51 "Say (i. e., O thou Mohammed to them)! I do not
say to you, with me are the treasures of Allah, nor that I
know the unseen (absent), or that I say to you, *I am an
angel.' Verily I do not follow except what is revealed to
me. Say : Are the blind and the seeing on the same level ?
Will ye not consider? And warn those who fear that they
will be gathered to their Lord. Besides Allah they have
neither a near one nor an intercessor — perhaps they will
fear!" (This is plainly Mohammed's own confession that
he is unable to intercede before Allah for the people.)
" 20: 108 "On that day shall no intercession be of any avail, except
from such as the Merciful permits, and who is acceptable
to him in speech."
" 39: 44,45 "Do they take besides Allah intercessors? Say: Have
they no control over a thing, and have no reason? Say:
To Allah belongs the intercession of it all."
" 78:38 "On the day when the spirit and the angels shall stand
in ranks, they shall not speak save to whom the Merciful
permits, and who speaks aright!"
(See also Sura 30: 12; 40:19; 19:90; 34^22; 74:49-)
i
THE REStjRRECTION AND JUDGMENT IN KOR'AN 371
Conclusion. Had Mohammed any thought or concern
that one day his messages and warnings would be
gathered up and published in what has turned out to be
the Kor'an, one might imagine that he would have either
taken care himself, or, at least, would have left instruc-
tions with his followers, that his chaos of fragmentary
utterances be presented to the reading public in decency
and in order. But this Mohammed, because he was
Mohammed, did not do, and those coming after him made
a very rough job of it. Consequently as a basis for a
system of theology, the Kor'an has given all commenta-
tors no end of trouble, and still remains a jumble quite
out of the question to straighten out. The many contra-
dictions filling the Kor'an are clear evidence that Moham-
med was no theologian. He was nothing more than an
intoxicated poet. The feeling of Allah and the great day
of judgment were an obsession with him. As a single
phase of truth came to him he stressed it as the whole
tiuth.
In our attempt, therefore, on entering into the Kor'an
labyrinth, to observe and to endeavor to coordinate in
some fashion what is found there about the resurrection
and the judgment, naturally, because it is a veritable laby-
rinth, much that is there has either escaped our notice, or
has been beyond our power to assimilate. However, from
what we have been able to pick up and to group together,
along the line of Mohammed's eschatology, we are at this
point ready to make a few concluding observations :
( 1 ) Mohammed had become completely obsessed with
the thought that on a certain great and terrible day, all
creatures would stand before Allah in judgment.
(2) The catastrophic coming of the day would be
sudden and without warning.
(3) Every soul on its own merits would receive its
just deserts, even to the weight of an atom of evil or good,
with little, if any, hope of intercession before Allah.
(4) Escape from torment was dependent upon a pres-
372 THE MOSLEM WORLD 1
ent belief in Allah and his prophet and the b.st day, to-
gether with a reasonable amount of good deeob sent on
ahead during the life of this world.
(5) Scant is the basis, if any there is at all, for the
idea that Mohammed considered a judgment in the grave,
or had any conception of a purgatory either before or
after the resurrection.
(6) There is reason for believing that Mohammed's
first thought of the day of judgment was that it was a close
and impending event, but that later when success attended
his reign in Medina, the day was something more remote.
(7) There is undoubtedly a distinct difference between
Mohammed's conception of the resurrection and judg-
ment and that which has been changed, colored and as-
cribed to him by later Islam as seen in the traditions.
(8) That Mohammed's idea of the resurrection and
the judgment has been picked up from Jewish and Chris-
tian conceptions, though greatly amplified and distorted,
after having filtered through his peculiar mind, is quite
clear.
Fayum, Egypt. DaLTON GaLLOWAY.
A NEW APPROACH TO THE MOSLEM STU-
DENT. (THE ALLIANCE OF HONOUR
IN EGYPT.)
There is no corner of the student world which is exempt
from the problem of purity, whether that of personal
purity or that of social purity. At times the fact is faced
openly; at times it is recognized, but unmentioned.
Either way, herein admittedly lies the most difficult and
the most baffling proposition which confronts the educa-
tionalist, as a problem, which taxes the student, as a prac-
tical issue of life. Neither educationalist nor student can
escape it. Both may agree to draw over it the veil of
silence. But the reality of the struggle for purity is not
in any way diminished by a conventional recourse to
silence. Rather the policy of silence has proved to be but
a treacherous device of the evil one to cover deceptively
with a coating of seeming security the pit-falls which
await the unwary.
To-day the western world has agreed to face the moral
problem in the open. Headmasters discuss it; preachers
do not hesitate to philosophize on it; statesmen discourse
on its importance in relation to the health and well-being
of the nation; the League of Nations is legislating inter-
nationally for a new regime. But if the West is awaken-
ing to a sense of the necessity of a scientific treatment of
the whole problem, the East, beyond doubt, is in need of
the surgeon's knife with tenfold more urgency.
In the first place, the temptations to immorality are far
more numerous in countries like Egypt. The climate is
not so invigorating as in the West. There is a subtle life-
lessness in the air on hot days, which not only disinclines
for exercise, but positively allures towards evil. Older
missionaries bear witness to the tendency of the atmos-
phere to weaken the moral and physical centres of control.
It is difficult to realize how much the Easterner, from his
birth, misses the cool, bracing, air of Northern lands.
373
374 THE MOSLEM WORLD
And — ^what is, perhaps, a consequence of this — he misses,
too, the habit of constant, physical exercise, the stimulus
of games and athletics, to give a helpful outlet to his sur-
plus energies. It is only in the places where Western civi-
lization has made a marked impact, that the practice of
games, like football and tennis, has been established.
What a boon this has proved in student institutions, like
the Beyrout College, or the American University at Cairo,
will probably never be known. The experience of recent
years has made it perfectly clear that corporate games
exert a distinct influence towards both the building up of
the body, and the formation of strong character.
From one prevailing vice of European countries, Egypt
is relatively free. She is, fortunately, not the slave of
King Alcohol. But a recent inspection of the customs
and excise figures for the past few years reveals the dis-
tressing fact that drinking is on the increase, and it is re-
ported that the consumption of inferior liquors is growing
in the villages. How closely intemperance and immor-
ality are interconnected any who reside in cities like Liver-
pool and Glasgow know only too well. And Egypt has
its own incentive of this type to vice. Not a few of the
common people are addicted to the smoking of hasheesh
and opium, two drugs which bring out the very worst
elements in human nature.
Manifestly, then, the physical stimuli to impurity
amongst Eastern students is not inconsiderable. What
causes still greater anxiety is that the intellectual and
moral safeguards of virtue are deplorably few; in fact,
the most subtle inducements to lack of control proceed
from those very sources, which ought to be the bulwark of
self-control, namely literature and religion. The majority
of cheap booklets, circulating in the towns, whether writ-
ten in English, French, or Arabic, are distinctly demora-
lizing. Even amongst the classics of the Arabic language
there is a very large element which appeals to the lower
nature of man. The "Arabian Nights," for example,
A NEW APPROACH TO THE MOSLEM STUDENT 375
teems with vivid, unhealthy stories of vice and indulgence.
The religious literature suffers from the same defect.
Things are described there in detail, which had been bet-
ter left unsaid; practices are lauded there, by insinuation,
if not by express statement, which true religion would
condemn.
With difficulties confronting him from an adverse cli-
mate, largely unaided by literature or religion, it might
have been thought that the Moslem student was already
sufficiently handicapped in his fight for true manliness.
But the tale of his difficulty is far from told. He is sur-
rounded in almost every student centre, by bold, shameless
inducements to immorality. In the shops of Cairo — even
in those which have established themselves in the main
thoroughfares of the town — there are publicly exhibited
pictures and post cards, which, with no special claim to
intrinsic beauty, nevertheless, under the guise of art, are
thrust into the forefront of the windows, and, we believe,
have no other purpose than to gratify a lewd taste and a
passionate eye. Every effort to have these removed has,
up to the present, proved futile.
There is no necessity in this article to stress the influence
of cinemas and theatres. They vary so much in their char-
acteristics, and, in any case, they are not peculiar to the
East. Rather, we would lay all the emphasis of our in-
dignation and disgust on the inconceivable horror of the
area which is occupied by the licensed prostitutes of Cairo,
Within a stone's throw of one of the principal business
areas of Cairo, within three hundred yards of two of its
leading hotels, may be seen three streets, which are mainly,
if not totally, given up to immoral trade. A little further
eastward, on the other side of another important road,
lies a network of tvventy alleys or more, which is again
devoted to licensed vice. The stench and filth of both
these areas elude description. Yet all the young men of
Cairo know of the existence of these places. Hither they
throng, especially on Thursday and Friday and Saturday
376 THE MOSLEM WORLD
evenings, for entertainment and excitement. There is
everything which the devil can devise to attract them.
Cafes, beer shops, dancing saloons, hoop-la booths all lend
their quota of inducements to Cairo's youth to come. Nor
is it the young men of Cairo alone who are concerned. In
Cairo's schools and colleges, at the El-Azhar University,
in the government offices are gathered men and boys from
every part of Egypt, and numbers from distant parts of
the Moslem world. To the brothel area they make theit
way, for Cairo is sadly deficient in healthy forms of relax-
ation and recreation. For lack of better, more uplifting,
interests they are drawn to these sinks of iniquity.
Artistically, there is nothing at all attractive in this sin-
sodden area. It is dark, badly lighted, ill-paved, with
pools of water and filth in the narrow passages. Many of
the houses are little better than hovels. At the doors are
seated highly-painted women, inadequately dressed, await-
ing their patrons or coaxing the passers-by. Someone
aptly described it as ''hell with the lid ofif."
It would be pitiable enough if this area could be de-
scribed as the resort of the abandoned only. In the West
it is a sad fact that so many of our large towns have dis-
tricts, which can only be referred to with a shudder.
What constitutes the agony of the problem of Cairo, is
that to this home of vice and uncleanness there throng,
without a blush of shame, prominent men from Egypt's
villages. Sheikhs from the Azhar, employees of the gov-
ernment, students in schools and colleges, fellaheen and
servants. On more than one occasion men of wealth have
been seen to drive up to the entrance of these alleys in
their motor cars, and leaving a chauffeur in charge, to
walk, unabashed, into the vilest of these dwellings. The
measure of the evil can to some small extent be estimated
by the fact that more than 1,360 women are officially li-
censed to live in this way — in Cairo alone — which means
that they earn sufficient money by their trade to feed them-
selves, to pay rent, and at the same time to remunerate
A NEW APPROACH TO THE MOSLEM STUDENT 377
those who control the houses, and to satisfy the demands of
the small army of pimps who fatten on the business.
It were well to draw a veil over the wickedness of the
streets of Cairo. Enough has been mentioned to convey
some idea of the utter horror of the situation. Yet all this
happens daily in the heart of the town, openly, and with
the cognizance of any who care to know of it. But, as
though official recognition had not given the devil of im-
purity sufficient scope for his activity, there remains to be
mentioned a whole realm of vice, a veritable system of
shame, which though nominally latent underground, does,
with considerable impunity, rear its head above ground.
Every night there may be seen women, and boys, walking
the shop-lit streets of Cairo, known, beyond denial, to be
living by hiring out their bodies for sinful purposes. It is
scarcely possible even to stroll down some of Cairo's
thoroughfares at night-time without being accosted by
dragomen, or street-hawkers, or, not infrequently, even by
native policemen, and invited to a place of shame. The
ramifications of the practice of vice in Cairo seems unfath-
omable. Much is known which cannot be recorded here,
known, unfortunately to be absolutely true, revealed by the
most careful investigation, and vouched for by unimpeach-
able authority.
Such are the facts. To us as Christian men and women
now arises the question — how is the Kingdom of God to
be set up in the hearts of these young men of Egypt, and
also in these awful areas? As might have been already in-
ferred, the first great desideratum is for a sound public
opinion, which feels and is ready to act. Everywhere one
is met with the same attitude of hopelessness, of a feeling
of inability to effect anything. There is, it is true, a rem-
nant left in the Moslem community, which has not bowed
the knee to the Baal of wantonness, but, as soon as this lit-
tle body is approached with a view to the execution of any
practical proposals, one finds that it not only lacks
faith in the possibility of any permanent reform being
378 THE MOSLEM WORLD
achieved, but also is devoid of the motive power, which
will carry through a transformation of individual life and
of social conditions in the teeth of vested interests and
against the dead weight of a lethargic public.
Over against this small minority, which is desirous of a
change, but despairing of its achievement, looms the large
mass of Moslem thought, which is vitiated by the false
philosophy that continence is a physical impossibility.
Ninety-nine out of every hundred students are told — and
the most of them believe — that in the interests of health
nature must have her way. This doctrine, widely spread
and generally accepted, cuts at the very heart of those con-
victions which give power to a man who is fighting for a
clean life and a clear conscience. Thus the battle is lost
before it is begun. And, further, the stamping of vice
with an official seal confirms in the mind of the young the
impression that continence is an unattainable ideal, while
most of the schools, for their part, have no message for
their charges.
What the results of this attitude of mind are in the life
of the boys and students of Egypt can readily be imagined.
The evidence of the boys themselves on the one hand, and
the testimony of teachers and parents on the other, coin-
cide in the conclusion that only the very smallest fraction
of the youth of Egypt passes with an unstained record
through the schools and colleges of the country. One
Egyptian friend stated that it was his own settled judg-
ment, after years of thought on the matter, that not one-
half percentage of students remain continent.
The evil habits begun in boyhood are carried to worse
forms as years go by. The sense of moral shame is weak-
ened, until it almost ceases to exist. Physically, the effect
is visible to the eye in the obvious apathy of those who
should be brimful of vigor. Morally the character in
every department becomes enfeebled. When, a little more
than a year ago. Dr. Sherwood Eddy carried on an evan-
gelistic campaign in several of the student centres of
A NEW APPROACH TO THE MOSLEM STUDENT 379
Egypt, it was found that by far the largest proportion
of questions sent in to him centered round this problem of
purity, and were in fact nothing less than confessions of
awful degradation and pitiful appeals for moral power
and regeneration. Those who were engaged with Dr.
Eddy at the same time in personal work will remember
how the majority of those who came for guidance admit-
ted, with heart-rending sincerity, the grip which these
vices had fixed on their lives.
The inevitable result has followed, that disease is eating
away the bodies of many of Egypt's young men. No other
consequence could have been expected. For it is known
that every permit granted by the authorities to the women
who ply this trade of sin in Cairo is stamped across with
the words, ^'This woman is not guaranteed clean," which
means that not a single one of these women can be gaur-
anteed to be free from venereal disease. There is, more-
over, awful evidence to show that the majority of the
prostitutes are actually infected by syphilis or gonorrhoea.
These diseases are thus being conveyed, nightly, to the
men, who are more influential, in all probability, than any
other section of the community in framing public opinion.
That the moral tone of Arabic publications must be
graded as low is not, therefore, surprising under the cir-
cumstances. But the sins of the fathers do not wreak their
vengeance on the fathers alone. They pass on their awful
harvest of disease to the poor women, who are married to
these libertines, and they, in turn, convey the disease to
their children. This accounts for the large number of
people, men, women and children, who are admitted to the
C. M. S. Hospital in Old Cairo, suffering from V. D.
And the children, in turn, are predisposed, from the dis-
torted heritage they have received, to follow in the foot-
steps of their fathers. And so the harvest grows.
Incontinence, then, is undermining the bodily stamina
of Egypt's young men. But this is by no means its worst
result. It is also rendering impossible the development of
38o THE MOSLEM WORLD
moral character in the leaders of the nation, and unfitting
them for the attainment of any spiritual power; and these
consequences are, to a Christian, of still greater signifi-
cance. It is inconceivable that any young man, who is
sacrificing the virtue of chastity on the altar of pleasure,
can have either the spiritual vision which will interpret to
him the deepest realities of the life of the soul, or the
moral power which will inspire him to strive after those
ideals of mental and spiritual achievement which are the
foundations of stability and progress in both the individual
and the nation. When self-control is abandoned, other
virtues lose their attractiveness and their categorical
claims, and the rudder of life slips gradually into the cun-
ning hands of self-interest and personal pleasure. For
those, therefore, whose lives have been dedicated to the
winning of Moslem students to the love and service of
Jesus Christ, and whose prayers and labours are directed
to the uplifting of the student life of the land, there arises
a peculiarly pressing problem from these facts of prevail-
ing impurity. It becomes necessary to consider more care-
fully whether the current modes of presenting the saving
power of Jesus, our Lord, are adequate, or, shall we say,
best adapted to the needs of those whom it is our purpose
to reach. This point needs, we feel, marked emphasis.
The psychology of adolescence proves indubitably that
so long as a boy or man is under the sway of physical pas-
sions he cannot rise to any great ideal of achievement of
character. Quite apart from the weakening of the mental
powers, of memory and of concentration, there proceeds
a subtle sapping of the moral forces, and a perversion of
emotion, which destroys strength and blurs vision. Until
this plague of self-indulgence is completely cleared out of
the whole system it is impossible to secure health of body
or of mind or of spirit.
While the ultimate necessity and desirability of provid-
ing means of instructing the youth of the East in the
heights and depths of the Christian faith are manifest to
A NEW APPROACH TO THE MOSLEM STUDENT 381
all who are engaged in missionary work in these lands, it
seems to us that much of such instruction will be com-
pletely lost on a very large number of the young men for
whom it is provided, simply because they are not in a fit
condition to receive it. These men are slaves to their
lower nature; they are occupied in a grim fight with
Satanic forces; what they stand in need of is a power
which will enable them to win a moral victory in an issue
which is eminently practical. Until the prospect of such
victory rises above the horizon, they will be devoid of the
vision of the soul and the purity of heart which alone can
see God.
How to meet that need is the problem which the Alli-
ance of Honour in Egypt has undertaken to solve. Its
work will be seen at once to be two-fold. In the first place
it will endeavor to do all in its power to have removed all
those stumbling-blocks which are an offence to the grow-
ing youth; and, secondly, it will seek to provide the
knowledge for the mind, and the inspiration for the soul,
which alone can keep the life along the path of holiness
and righteousness.
As to the removal of the external sources of temptation,
not a little has been done in the last twelve months. Glar-
ing breaches of the law have been brought to the notice of
the police authorities, with the consequence that we have
an assurance from the central administration that in-
creased vigilance will be observed, and, further, we have
the knowledge that the police are actually engaged in a
careful endeavor to discover infringements of the law. Re-
cently the Minister of the Interior was informed of a
periodical which purposed to supply Egyptian boys with
the latest details of sporting news, but which, as a matter
of fact, contained more than one page of obscene jokes.
Within a month the minister responsible had visited the
editors of the paper, and secured from them an under-
taking that these obscenities would be discontinued. Per-
sonal visits are made to shops which exhibit objectionable
382 THE MOSLEM WORLD
post cards and pictures, and pressure is brought to bear
on the owners to have them taken from the windows.
This method was successful in the case of one of the best-
known photographic stores in Cairo, but, as a rule, an
appeal to the conscience of the salesmen seems to have
little or no effect. Valuable as are the results already
achieved in this direction, it seems to us that they are but
a very small fraction of what remains to be done. Far
more stringent legislation is required, prohibiting the pub-
lication of immoral literature, and forbidding the exhi-
bition of unclean cards. Nothing less than a bold attack
on the present system of licensed vice can be satisfactory.
The government must be induced, firstly, to reduce the
number of licenses it issues every year, and secondly, to
remove the occupants of every house of shame to some
secluded part of the town, far away from the centre of
business and social activity. There is not a little evidence
gathered from the experience of continental towns to
prove that, after all, complete prohibition of immorality
though rarely, in point of fact, completely attainable is
nevertheless by far the best process of coping with this
problem, and by far the best means of safeguarding the
next generation. When the military authorities in Cairo
were approached to consider the advisibility of having all
brothels put out of bounds to His Majesty's Forces, more
than one dissenting voice assured us that the result would
be an inevitable increase in V. D. What has actually hap-
pened since this measure was enforced is that the figures
for such disease have fallen to an unprecedented degree.
But the government cannot be expected to take action
until it is persuaded to do so by the force of a strong pub-
lic opinion making for righteousness. Such public opin-
ion does not exist to-day, and, so far as the influence of
Moslem thought extends, may never be expected to come
into existence. It therefore has to be created, and created
from Christian sources. To some small extent this may
be attained by keeping in close touch with the daily press,
A NEW APPROACH TO THE MOSLEM STUDENT 383
and to some extent by constant use of the public platform.
But the public is nothing else than a mass of individuals,
each of whom has his or her own personal problems and
convictions, and thus we are brought to the second main
group of Alliance of Honour activities, namely, the edu-
cation of the mind of individuals, and the care for their
moral character and spiritual life.
Personal work is always the most important element in
missionary work. The weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but are mighty through God to the pulling down
of strongholds, even to the casting out of imaginations and
of every evil thought, which rears itself in our minds
against God. These are the weapons which we need to
use in our daily contact with the young men of Egypt.
We need to have released those spiritual forces which will
overwhelm the massed ranks of the evil one, to bring into
play every gift of intellect, of personal influence, of spir-
itual life, of prayer life which will draw fallen manhood
to the living Saviour.
There are two sides to this section of the work. To a
certain extent the end may be attained by providing men
and boys with that information about themselves which
they ought to have. This can be done by the organization
of meetings for men in every town where students dwell,
so that medical men, statesmen and religious leaders may,
in turn, present to the mind of the youth those various as-
pects of human life and human obligation which will keep
them from straying into evil habits through lack of ade-
quate knowledge. It can also be done by the publication
of literature in both Arabic and English, so as to have
available for the reading section of the community, which
is not large, and which is principally composed of students
and ex-students, a comprehensive range of booklets on the
sex problem. And, thirdly, it can be done — and perhaps
best done — by means of personal talks with individual
men and boys.
The most important element of the work is that which
still remains to be mentioned, the cultivation of the spir-
3S4 THE MOSLEM WORLD
itual life of the youth. Here, again, all three methods
already referred to have been brought into use. Meetings
are held, and addresses are given, proclaiming the Lord
Jesus Christ as the sole source of spiritual power and of
moral attainment. Pamphlets and booklets are issued by
arrangement w^ith the Nile Mission Press, and either dis-
tributed to members of the alliance, or sold to the general
public, containing addresses, delivered originally in
Arabic, or translated from the English, and pointing out
that Jesus alone can meet the need of the individual soul,
or solve the problem of a corrupt society. And, finally,
through the contacts with students, which the Alliance
of Honor organization provides, unequalled opportuni-
ties are presented for personal work, and personal in-
fluence.
It is noteworthy how open the Moslem student is to this
approach from the side of the pressing, personal, problem
of purity. Whether he is accosted in the public street in
the brothel area, and handed a four-page tract, or whether
he is spoken to at the close of a meeting, or privately after-
wards by arrangement, there is invariably a real desire to
find out some means of overcoming the grip of vice in his
own life. Then the Lord Jesus is presented to him, not in
contrast to the prophet Mohammed, as the revealer of a
more living message, or as satisfying the demands of the
intellect for a rational conception of the nature of God,
but rather, the Lord Jesus is shown by word and by act to
be the living Saviour of a baffled soul from the slavery of
the evil one.
And, as might have been anticipated, this work amongst
Moslems has an important value in its reaction on the
Christian students of Egypt, whether these be Copts or
evangelicals. Among them, too, there is urgent need for
an aggressive purity campaign. It is a sad but well-known
fact, that many of these ^^Christians'' have adopted the
moral outlook and the immoral practice of their Moslem
neighbours. No strong Christian Church life can thrive
on the basis of physical self-indulgence. Every method
A NEW APPROACH TO THE MOSLEM STUDENT 385
adopted to reach the Moslem student is equally appli-
cable to these ''Christians" too, and not a few testimonies
have been sent to us as to definite help received in this v^ay.
Not a single avenue of approach to the Moslem student
can be, v^ith impunity, let slip. The Alliance of Honour
has organized two clubs in two towns, corresponding to
the Y. M. C. A. organizations of England and America.
Football clubs and tennis clubs have been formed to pro-
vide healthy recreation. Not long ago Dr. Zwemer and
the writer inserted an advertisement in two Arabic news-
papers, inviting any young men, who were desirous to
know how to live a pure life in Cairo, to write to the
"Young Bachelor" at a certain address. Over seventy
replies were received, from Alexandria in the North to
the Sudan in the South, and the larger proportion of these
came from young Moslems. To each a letter was sent, and
a parcel of literature.
Mention, too, should be made that there is a separate
section of the Alliance of Honour for boys, so that by
special meetings, special literature, and by personal con-
tact, the boys may be reached before the evil of impurity
has entered their system. And thus it is hoped that in the
years to come there may grow up a new generation, fired
with Christian ideals, and inspired by the Spirit of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
But the task is an immense one. Only by the prayer of
faith, and by the work of love, can this mountain of vice
be removed, and that not merely from the social system,
but from the individual heart. Money, too, is needed.
But we thank God Who has supplied us with all that we
have needed up to this day.
Cairo, Egypt. S. A. MORRISON.
ISLAM IN MADAGASCAR
Islam in Madagascar dates from the IX and
centuries. It was introduced towards 825 in all proba-
bility, by a group of dissenters, who fled from the Sunnites,
and came to take up their abode in the north of the island.
Previously only some passing boats or shipwrecked
Arabs had astonished the natives with their strange prac-
tices. Then a Sunnite colony established itself in the
northeast, after having spent nearly a century on the coast
of Malabar. It must have arrived between 1300 and 1350.
The ancestors of this group were originally from the prov-
ince of Mecca. Then in the XVI and XVII centuries
other Arabs appeared, and installed themselves, some in
the south and others in the northwest, after a short period,
during which there existed a state of war. Both from the
beginning inter-married with the women of the country,
and little by little dispersed in different directions.
It is not surprising that all these foreigners, bringing
with them a certain civilization, should have subjugated
the inhabitants of the regions where they planted them-
selves, and should have made their ideas accepted at least
outwardly. There remain many traces of their influence
in the language, in taboos, and in the religious practices
of divination.
From the beginning there was a strange mixture of
ideas, Sunnite, Shiite and heathen. This allowed many
of the inhabitants of the island to adopt the religion of
these foreigners without renouncing the practices dear to
them, and explains the facility of the Moslem conquest,
and the rapid decrease of its influence. It must not be for-
gotten that there are in the south, in the northwest and in
the northeast, important groups of natives who believe
themselves to be '^Silamo" (Moslem). They have even
priests, the Onjatsy, who to-day form a clan, from whence
386
ISLAM IN MADAGASCAR 387
the educated who know the Koran, and the sick-healers
are recruited. They are considered as belonging to a
sacerdotal caste. All this makes evangelization in these
centres very difficult, and any action one could take would
have to be in the far-off future.
It must be known that slavery, which in reality lasted
until 1895, has been one of the principal means of propa-
ganda of Islam. If in the XVI and XVII centuries, or
later, many slaves were taken away, causing the depopu-
lating of certain regions, in the XVIII century the im-
portation of slaves was flourishing, — these were generally
tainted with Islam.
During the whole of the second half of the XVIII
century, and all the XIX, the Indians, all Moslems in
different degrees, installed themselves, and undertook a
real propaganda by their example. It lasts until to-day,
and is not without results. The erecting of many mosques,
the different rites of observance more or less strict, can but
arrest attention. But the work of infiltration was mostly
accomplished by the ordinary commerce of life. The
Indian group composed especially of Gujaratis, acts also
by its influence on the domestic attendants, the employees
of its shops, or the workmen of its concessions. The '^Sil-
amo" have created for themselves a clientele. They sur-
round it, and finish by enrolling and dominating it, it is
thus that the Moslem religious influence has developed.
All the Indian population, which lives by its commerce
with the native, often becomes the medium between the
black and white people, under pretext of imposing them-
selves on the native. It has largely developed these last
decades, owing to births, for, in fact, many Indians are set-
tled without hope of return. It is there that there lies a
real danger for the future, because, imbued with the feel-
ing of their superiority, often very real, the Indians draw
to themselves through self-interest the ;respect of the
numerous ignorant and superstitious people who surround
them.
388 THE MOSLEM WORLD
The people of the Comoro Islands, who have come in
large numbers these last years, owing to their new connec-
tion with the people of Madagascar, have joined them-
selves to the former slaves of the east coast of Africa.
They all speak Swahili more or less correctly. They have
been able to understand each other, and thus give a false
impression as to the number of Moslems in the country.
Indigenous Islam is scarcely more than a question of
clothes, white or red head-dress. They do indeed read
what is called the Koran. But the book is in reality noth-
ing but a selection of traditions on the Prophet, mixed
with cabalistic signs, but there are not many who can read
Arabic, even amongst the descendants of the first colonists.
Often in the regions where they are located one can see
men read with zeal signs of which they do not understand
the signification. One must not conclude from this that
Islam is not to be feared, on the contrary the very facility
it offers to nominal conversions pushes it forward. It has
its propagators locally appointed, and sick-healers whose
influence is great, just where they can exercise it. It has
also its missionaries; we have met some who go on itiner-
ations and are received solemnly, and their presence draws
a movement of individuals, a series of ceremonies, meals in
common, for which many invitations are issued. All this
does not leave the spectators indifferent. All the people
talk and interest themselves in the coming and going of
these influential people, and as they like manifestations, it
seems to them that there is something beautiful and mys-
terious, and therefore desirable in it.
As compared with Christianity, Islam, representing a
small aggressive minority, does not yet make much prog-
ress. But it is difficult to reach it. Its followers shut
themselves up in their mosques, preserve most carefully
their language, have their schools, and take care to have no
contact with Christians. They multiply principally
through births. One does not know of any Indians becom-
ing Christians, although many are well disposed towards
ISLAM IN MADAGASCAR 389
the religion of Jesus Christ. One cannot call attention to
many Comorians who have professed Christianity.
One could reach Indians through tracts written in their
language, Gujarati. The Comorians, the least numerous,
speak and read Swahili. The true Indian and Moslem
centre is to-day at Majemga. Formerly it was at Nosibe,
where, nevertheless, a small Indian village still exists.
Nothing has been done up to the present to reach these
people. The presence of two Indian evangelists, sup-
ported by an Indian committee, after enquiry as to the
method to be employed, would make a work worth under-
taking. Some distribution of Gospels has been made in
the principal centres. It is but a very small preparation,
which has as yet had no results. It however made a pro-
test of the Christian conscience, ashamed not to be able to
do more.
The task is very limited. It could permit of experi-
ences of which the results could be used elsewhere. It
would bring, we are certain, encouragement, and would at
the same time cause indigenous Islam to disappear, which
would no longer have support.
Marovoay, Madagascar, Henry RuSILLON.
THE STUDY OF ISLAMICS AT CAIRO
The primary purpose of any course of Islamic study for
missionaries in the Moslem world should, I imagine, be
the exposition in such a way of those factors, religious,
political, social and moral, which have contributed to de-
termine the present mental and spiritual outlook of the
group, amongst whom the missionary will be called to
work, that he (or she) will be enabled both to present to
that group the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in terms
which will be comprehensible, and not offensive to their
listeners (or readers), and also to answer satisfactorily on
a rational basis those questions which a Moslem will be
most likely to ask of any follower of the Son of God.
To attain this purpose it seems to me that the course of
study to be followed will inevitably fall — if it is to be ade-
quately executed — into three main channels, comprising:
I. An historical sketch of the fundamentals of Islamic Faith, in-
cluding the life of the Prophet, and the consideration of those elements
which were woven into the Koran by him ; a survey of Moslem expan-
sion, theologically, socially and politically; and an examination of those
other factors which have moulded the Moslem mind, individually and
nationally, into its present form.
II. An analysis, by study and experience, of the mind of the average
Moslem, be he student, child, fellah or trader, with an endeavor to
comprehend his habits, his ideals (if any), his mode of thought, his out-
look, his environment, his literature, his hopes and his fears.
III. The presentation in practice, after careful study and close ob-
servation of the Gospel message to a Moslem audience, with an adequate
treatment of the current objections to the Christian philosophy of life.
Manifestly this threefold form of study cannot be car-
ried out satisfactorily (i.e., if the missionary arrives in
the land practically unequipped for the specialized work
of the Moslem missionary) in the fag-ends of the time,
snatched from an already closely packed day, during the
missionary's first two years in the country. Some slight
relief may be afforded by cutting down the amount of
classical knowledge required of the ordinary missionary,
but such relief will, in most cases, be only slight. One
observation, alone, remains, namely, to extend the period
390
THE STUDY OF ISLAMICS AT CAIRO 391
of such Islamic study over a much longer period, which,
we would suggest, should not be less than a four years'
course in all, i. e., two years, while Arabic is being studied,
and at least two years afterwards. It is, probably, only
after the missionary has left the environments of Cairo,
and the doubtful joys of the S. O. S. that he or she feels
the great need of a knowledge of ^'Islamics" in the widest
sense of the word, and that the appetite for reading and
preparing himself along these lines, becomes truly whetted
and sharp.
There are, in all likelihood, many ways in which a
course of ''Islamic Studies'' might be conducted. Three
such present themselves to our mind as having been tried,
and, in most universities, found successful. They are:
I. The method of lecturing, i. e., not merely the spoken presentation
of facts already really comprised in the leading handbooks, but the
bringing to the attention of the audience of facts, which have never
previously been published, or, if they have, are scattered about in books
and magazines, which are inaccessible to most students, or perhaps have
only appeared in foreign languages, which most students do not read
with ease; and this method should also include ample facilities for
questioning the lecturer on any point germane to the subject on which he
is engaged.
II. The method of tutoring, i. e., the gathering together of two or
three students (or fewer if there are more teachers) for one hour per
week, for the purpose of discussing a short essay which each has written
on some set theme, and for the purpose of debating any problem or
difficulties which any of the three or five students have met with during
his reading that week. Talks, which are far more informal, and, likely
therefore to be far more profitable than lectures, will thus ensue.
III. The method of private reading. This demands no elucidation
here. It is only the number of books, their selection, and how the read-
ing of them can be best systematized, and most clearly impressed on the
mind, these questions of detail only concern us here.
Some will by reason of their personal idiosyncrasies or
training prefer one method to another. There appears no
reason why all these methods should not be combined.
One or two observations on each may be of value:
I. As to lecturing. Some are helped by the mere sound of the human
voice, and by the personality of the lecturer. Naturally the value of
the lecture will depend very much on what the lecturer has put into it.
Frankly some lectures have, to my mind, been profitless replicas of
written works, which are useful enough in themselves to the reader.
392 THE MOSLEM WORLD
In any case, I believe twenty-five out of thirty students at the ordinary
lecture will be disinclined to ask questions before so large an audience,
and the keener students, who are bold enough to ask questions, will
probably bring forth minor points of interest to the specialist alone.
IL As to tutoring, if there is a sufficient number of teachers with the
required knowledge and interest, this seems to be the most likely to bear
fruit in the long run. Conversation can be free and less restrained than
at a lecture. The subject matter can be better adapted to the present
knowledge and the future requirements of each special group. Presum-
ing there were enough tutors, each tutor might be responsible for the
reading of four pupils, and meet them once a week for an hour. In this
way the whole course of study in its three-fold aspect might be divided
up between the six tutors, and each specialize more particularly in one
or two subsections of the same. For instance (a) one might aim at
being specially proficient in the history of the life of Mohammed; (b)
another in the Koran and its various strands; (c) another in the history
of the Caliphate, and of the spread of Islam; (d) another in Modern.
Mysticism; (e) another in the Animistic elements in Mohammed-
anism, and so on.
III. As to reading, clearly, this method involves the least trouble
in the way of arrangement, as it can be done in accordance with the
daily program of each student. It is jnost difficult to fix upon a time
when thirty or more students are free for a lecture. It is less difficult
to arrange a weekly tutorial class for a group of four. It is easy to
assign a certain amount of reading to each student, and leave it to the
individual to complete it within a given period. If the tutorial system,
as above outlined, was adopted, the reading for each group would vary
with the theme on which it was engaged and with the discretion of the
tutor. If this system is not adopted, a general course of reading for all,
in accordance with the examination for which they were studying, might
conveniently be prepared. For instance, three books might be set to be
completed before the first examination is taken, three more before the
second, three more before the third, and three more before the fourth.
The only difficulty is to guarantee that the reading is actually done, and
not only done, but done intelligently. A course of lectures suited to the
reading with which each examination group is occupied would help to
elucidate many problems. Perhaps the best guarantee of all is to set
questions on each of the three books, assigned for each examination, and
insist that the answers be shown up at the next examination. By having
such questions constantly before their minds, the readers will carry on
their studies with a keener eye for relevant details.
It is not necessary here to select the books for such a
course. It has already been done — for another purpose —
in the C. S. C. Study Course in Islam (1921). Only we
would suggest that this course be continued, as above pro-
posecl, for four years in all, and that every six months
students be asked to present nine sets of answers to nine
question sets for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Islamic
THE STUDY OF ISLAMICS AT CAIRO 393
examination in accordance with the books presented for
these examinations, as each student specially requires.
This course (after the first two years) should be fairly
elastic, to allow of adaptation to the individual's work and
objects. Branch libraries may have to be established, but
why are they not already in existence?
Finally, in summing up, we should recommend that
lectures be not too many, as already students are inclined
to be overloaded with Arabic class lessons, and not to have
sufficient time for private reading and study. We would
strongly favor the adoption of the tutorial system, and,
concurrent with it, a system of reading, accomplished by
set questions, to be shown up obligatorily at the next ex-
amination. Periodically demonstration lessons should be
given in (a) preaching to Moslems, (b) personal work
amongst Moslems, showing what lines of approach and
what form of words are to be avoided, and what to be
commended, and thus the student might be made familiar
with those passages in the Koran and the Traditions which
are most helpful to the Christian missionary in present-
ing his message and also be made familiar — a not
unnecessary remark we believe — with those principles of
Christian faith and conduct which make the strongest
appeal to the Moslem. If one of the teachers adopted
the role of a Moslem Sheikh, or of a fellah, and argued as
these do, quoting continually from say Rodwell's transla-
tion, giving chapter and verse, and another teacher pre-
sented the Christian message, again quoting from Rodwell
(or the Bible), I believe this method of personal work
would be made real to the missionary, though it would
be pointed out that the positive presentation of the Gospel
is of more value than all that controversy can achieve.
This very presentation might be demonstrated by lecture,
or before the class group with real advantage to the stu-
dents attending.. W. H. T. Gairdner,
Cairo, Egypt.
MOSLEM EDUCATION IN SYRIA.
{Before the War.)
It was only with the opening years of the nineteenth
century that the need of reform in all departments of
state began to make itself felt in Turkey. With regard
to education, the Arabs of Syria were in a woeful state,
in spite of the glorious heritage which was more directly
theirs than it was their masters, the Turks. For we must
not forget that the Turks in originally adopting Islam
had had to learn sufficient Arabic to read the Koran, and
in learning the religious texts had had to depend on the
'Ulema who alone could expound to them the laws and
dogmas of Islam. These 'Ulema consisted of the few who
carried on the traditions of learning through the centuries
from the glorious times of Harun-al-Rashid and Ma'mun.
Their studies were confined on the one hand to grammar,
lexicography, prosody, and rhetoric, and on the other to
the interpretation of the Koran and the traditions, with
the whole system of jurisprudence that was based on the
Koran. The theological motive was the main one in all
this study, with the result that gradually interest in other
branches of learning died out, and a dull uniformity of
scholastic traditional method remained. We may say
that the population of the empire at the outset of the nine-
teenth century consisted of two distinct classes — the great
mass of the people who were ignorant, and the few who
were included among the learned, who belonged in other
words to the class of the ^Ulema.
Selim III. (1789-1807) had felt something of the need
for reform in education, but only a few military schools
were established in his reign; the reign of Mahmud II.
(1808-1839) formed a transition period in Turkish his-
tory, when old laws, old customs, and old institutions
were all more or less modified; it is, however, to the
reign of 'Abd-al-Mejid (1839-1861) that we must turn
394
MOSLEM EDUCATION IN SYRIA 395
for the first serious attempt on the part of the government
to take in hand and put in motion educational reform. Up
till then there had been no government control of educa-
tion, everything practically being in the hands of the
'Ulema. Their mosque schools or Medrasehs, the repre-
sentatives of the ancient higher learning of the Arabs,
and the Mektabehs or elementary schools, representing
the old primary system of Moslem education, had dragged
on a weary existence through the centuries, and were still
at the beginning of the nineteenth century the only chan-
nels for educational progress/ Speaking of education
in Egypt during his sojourn there in 1833-35, Edward W.
Lane tells us that parents seldom devoted much time to
the intellectual training of their children, generally con-
tenting themselves with instilling into their young minds
a few principles of religion, and then submitting them to
the instruction of a schoolmaster. Most of the children
of the higher and middle classes and some of those of
the lower orders were taught to read, and to recite and
chant the whole or certain portions of the Koran by
memory. Afterwards they learnt the most common rules
of arithmetic. ^'AU who are learning to read, recite or
chant their lessons aloud, at the same time rocking their
heads or bodies incessantly backwards and forwards. . . .
The noise may be imagined. The boys first learn the
letters of the alphabet; next, the vowel points and other
orthographical marks; and then, the numerical value of
each letter of the alphabet. ... It is seldom that the
master of a school teaches writing; and few boys learn
to write unless destined for some employment which abso-
lutely requires that they should do so. . . . The school-
masters in Egypt are mostly persons of very little learn-
ing; few of them are acquainted with any writings except
the Koran, and certain prayers, which, as well as the
contents of the sacred volume, they are hired to recite
1 Educational reform had begun in Egypt as early as 1811 under Mohammed 'AH; by
1824 training schools in various departments were initiated, and during the ten years
when be annexed Siria (i 831 -41) education had reached the first stage of consolidation.
396 THE MOSLEM WORLD
on particular occasions.'" This may be taken as descrip-
tive not only of elementary education in Egypt in the early
decades of last century but of Syria as well, and one might
add, has continued to be the condition of things until now
in those parts of Turkey where the influence of the West
has not been strongly felt. In such schools corporal
punishment was a daily occurrence, being considered in-
dispensable. AftQr six or seven years of that training
most of the children began to learn some trade, only the
few who could afford it being taken to the mosque school
in order to go on in the higher studies of language and
theology: from this latter class were recruited naturally
the ranks of the 'Ulema.
With Sultan ^Abd-al-Mejid began the struggle to free
education from the control of the ^Ulema and place it
under government control. In 1845 a commission was
appointed to draw up a programme for general education,
and the following year saw the first imperial announce-
ment regarding the systematization of schools and the
substitution of State for 'Ulema control.^ Ten years later,
in 1856, the famous edict — the Hatti Humayun — was
promulgated, containing the following educational re-
forms: "In towns . . . where different sects are mingled
together, each community inhabiting a district quarter
shall . . . have equal power to repair and improve . . .
its schools. When there is the question of erection of new
buildings the necessary authority must be asked for
through the medium of the Patriarchs and heads of the
communities from my Sublime Porte. All subjects of
my empire without exception shall be received into the
civil and military schools of the government if they other-
wise satisfy the conditions as to age and examination
2 Cf. Edward W. Lane: The Modern Egyptians, vol. i, p. 91 f.
With regard to higher learning in Egypt, he adds (vol II, p. 18): "Learning, indeed,
has much declined among the Arabs universally; but least in Cairo: consequently the
fame of the professors of this city still remains unrivalled: and its great collegiate
mosque, the Azhar, continues to attract innumerable students from every part of the
Moslem world." It is to Al-Azhar that those must resort who purpose devoting them-
selves to religious employments or to any of the learned professions, having previously
learned nothing more than to read, and perhaps to write, and to recite the Koran.
3 The Rushdiyeh schools were founded at this time, but only after i860 did they become
common in the different provinces of the Empire.
MOSLEM EDUCATION IN SYRIA 397
which are specified in the organic regulations of the said
schools. Moreover every community is authorized to
establish public schools of science, art and industry. Only
the method of instruction and the choice of professors in
schools of this class shall be under control of a mixed
Council of Public Instruction, the members of which shall
be named by my sovereign command." This first edict
of reform gives us a glimpse of the far-reaching nature
of the government's ideals regarding education ; it formed
the first step towards government control of all the schools
of every religion and towards the official recognition of
the educational rights of all Ottoman subjects. The ideal
had by 19 14, after almost sixty years, not yet been realized.
Government schools have all along been mainly fre-
quented by Moslems only. The official educational law
of the Turkish Empire, however, was not published until
1869 in the reign of 'Abd-al-'Aziz (1861-1876). By his
Imperial Irade the following provisions for education
were set forth :
(i) Each village shall have at least one elementary school; in
towns of more than 500 families an elementary school of a
higher grade shall be established.
(2) Each town of more than 11,000 shall have a secondary school,
and the capital of each province a Lycee.
(3) At Constantinople there shall be an Imperial University and
a great Council of Education.*
For some years there was little done to put these provi-
sions into effect, but the reign of 'Abd-al-Hamid (1876-
1908) saw efforts put forth to develop higher grade
schools, not only in the capital but also in the provinces,
and since the constitution was proclaimed in 1908 until
1914, one of the main tasks of the Young Turkey party
was ostensibly to further realize the provisions of this law
and spread education over the whole empire. With the
incidence of the Great War and its results, the government
educational system, as far as Syria is concerned, has been
4 Cf. Al-Kulliyeh, vol. 4, No. s : "Ma'arif fil-Mamalik al-Othmaniyeh," by Professor
Bulus Khauli.
398 THE MOSLEM WORLD
shattered, but the following pages will reveal the nature
of the attempts made up till that time.
According to the above law of 1869,^ two classes of
schools were distinguished:
(i) Public or Government schools (les ecoles publiques) which
were under the direct administration of the government.
(2) Private schools (les ecoles libres) which were under the
general surveillance of the government, but founded and con-
trolled directly by private individuals or by communities. These
included all the foreign schools.
The final authority in all educational matters was the
Imperial Council of Public Instruction at Constantinople,
presided over by the Minister of Public Instruction, but
in the capitals of the different wilayehs there were sub-
ordinate or provincial Councils, whose business it was to
see to the carrying out of all instructions from the central
department of public instruction, and the general sur-
veillance of all schools within their respective spheres.®
Three grades may be distinguished in the government
schools, viz.. Elementary, Secondary, and Advanced.
(i) Under the name Elementary, we must distinguish a lower and
a higher grade — (a) the lower primary school (Ibtida'iyeh),
and (b) the higher primary school (Rushdiyeh).
Every village was to have at least one primary school,
but this was never fully carried out. Larger places had
more according to the population. No fees were charged,
the community being responsible for expenses incurred.
The course usually covered three years^ and the entrance
age was about six.
The curriculum was as follows :
First year: — Alphabet, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Religious In-
struction.
Second year: — Koranic and other reading, Religious Instruction, Writ-
ing, Arithmetic, Elements of Islamic History and
Geography.
5 This law has never been fully put in force and modifications have since been made
in many of its provisions.
6 Cf. Geo. Young: "Corps de droit ottoman," vol. II, pp. 365 flF. More recent regulations
provided for provincial councils also at each of the Lewas or Mutasarrifiyehs and the
Kadas or Kaimmakamiyehs.
7 The law of 1869 laid down four years for the primary schools.
MOSLEM EDUCATION IN SYRIA 399
Third year: — Koran, with proper Enunciation, Religious Instruction,
Catechism, Moral Maxims, Turkish Grammar, Elements
of Ottoman History and Geography.®
The language of instruction in the lower primary
schools was the vernacular — which means Arabic, as far
as Syria is concerned. The instruction was compulsory
for boys and girls alike, the latter, however, being taught
in a separate room or in a separate building. According
to the law of 1869 only female teachers were to be allowed
to teach girls, but until such could be forthcoming male
teachers ''of a mature age and approved morality" were
allowed to teach in girls' schools. A great deal of time
was spent in memorizing Suras of the Koran and
giving religious instruction. The teacher's method was to
read the Sura or Section with the pupils and make them
repeat it in unison until they could say it without a mistake
in vowelling or enunciation.
As for the higher primary schools there was here also
a course of study covering three years, and the language of
instruction for Syria was the vernacular, i. e., Arabic,
though a larger number of hours was devoted to the teach-
ing of Turkish than in the lower primary schools. No
fees were charged, expenses being paid out of the funds
of the Provincial Council. The following was the three
/years' curriculum:
First year: — Koran, Religious Instruction, Catechism, Turkish Gram-
mar, Reading, Elementary Science, Arabic Grammar,
Arithmetic, Facts of Civilization and Morals, History of
Islam, Geography.
Second year: — Koran, Religious Instruction, Turkish Grammar, Read-
ing, Elementary Science, Persian Grammar, Arabic
Grammar, Exercises in Arithmetic, Elementary Geome-
try, Survey of Ottoman History, Geography, Facts of
Civilization and Morals, French — Elementary Reading.
Third year: — Koran, Religious Instruction, Turkish Accidence, Read-
ing, Persian Grammar, Arithmetic, Practical Geometry,
Survey of General History, General and Ottoman
Geography, Facts of Civilization and Morals, French
(methode rationelle).®
The scarcity of female teachers retarded the develop-
ment of these higher primary schools as far as girls were
8 Cf. Al-Kulliyeh, supra.
9 Cf. G. Young: supra, p. 369. A four years' course was at first set down for the
Rushdiyeh schools.
400 THE MOSLEM WORLD
concerned, for they were often left in the hands of men
well advanced in years; more recently, however, only
female teachers were in charge of girls' primary schools.
At the center of each Kaimmakamiyeh these schools were
found, some centers having two — one for boys and one for
girls. There were also such schools for both sexes at the
center of each Mutasarrifiyeh, though the education of
most girls ended with the lower primary school.
(2) We come to the second or higher grade of govern-
ment schools, which we have called Secondary, and here
. again a subdivision has to be made, viz., (a) Preparatory
schools (Tdadiyeh) and (b) Lycees (Sultaniyeh).
According to the law of 1869 preparatory schools were
to be set up in towns with upwards of a thousand families,
and a Lycee in the capital of each wilayeh. These, how-
ever, were never definitely differentiated, the only Lycee
properly so-called being that of Galata-Serjii at Con-
stantinople. This, at first a French institution, became
later a Turkish institution and had a varied history,
which however lies beyond the scope of our present pur-
pose. The preparatory schools at the capital of each
wilayeh were latterly changed in name to Lycees through-
out twelve wilayehs of the Empire, including those of
Beirut and Aleppo in Syria. The curriculum of such
preparatory or Tdadiyeh schools covered a period of
seven years in large centers like Beirut, Aleppo, and
Damascus, but only five years in smaller centers as Hama,
Jerusalem, Nablus, Acca, Tripoli, and Latakia. The rais-
ing of the status of the schools at Beirut and Aleppo by
calling them Lycees was meant to give an opportunity
for increasing the seven years' curriculum by two years
to allow for advanced studies in French. '° '^
lOCf. Official. Statistics of Government Education Department: Constantinople, 1914.
In Syria this seven years' course actually consisted of three years of Rushdiyeh grade
and four years of I'dadiyeh grade, while the five years' course implied three years of
Rushdiyeh grade and two years of I'dadiyeh.
11 Cf. Mitteilungen und Nachrichten des Deutschen Paldstina-Vereins: 1907. When the
I'dadiyeh school was founded in Jerusalem less than thirty years ago, there was under it
properly only the Ibtida'iyeh, but the last year (in this case the fourth year) of the
Ibtida'iyeh and the three first of the five years' course of the I'dadiyeh covered the
Rushdiyeh curriculum. The Government program which was to come into operatiofi in
190S-6 included: (i) a three years' course in Ibtida'iyeh; (2) a three years course in
Rushdiyeh; and (3) a four years' course in I'dadiyeh.
MOSLEM EDUCATION IN SYRIA 401
According to the program of the Education Depart-
ment for the year 1910-11, the following was to be the
seven years' curriculum:
First year : — Koran with proper Enunciation, Jurisprudence, Arith-
metic, Elementary Science, Geography, History of the
Prophets and of Islam, Arabic Accidence, Turkish,
Writing.
Second year: — Koran with proper Enunciation, Jurisprudence, Arith-
metic, Geometry, Elementary Science, Geography, Sur-
vey of Ottoman History, Arabic Accidence, Persian,
Turkish, French, Facts of Civilization, Writing.
Third year: — Koran with proper Enunciation, Jurisprudence, Arith-
metic, Geometry, Elementary Science, Geography,
General History, Arabic Accidence, Persian, Turkish,
French, Facts of Civilization, Writing.
Fourth year : — Jurisprudence, Arithmetic, Geometry, Physics and Chem-
istry, Geography, General History, Arabic Syntax,
Persian, Turkish, French, Elements of Ethics, Arabic
Translation, Greek, Bulgarian, Armenian, Writing.
Fifth year: — Jurisprudence, Geometry, Algebra, Natural History,
Geography, General History, Arabic Syntax, Persian,
Turkish, French, Bookkeeping, Elements of Ethics,
Arabic Translation, Greek, Bulgarian, Armenian,
Writing.
Sixth year : — Jurisprudence, Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry,
Natural Philosophy and Mechanics, Chemistry, Zoology,
Geography, General History, Arabic, Reading with
Grammatical Rules, Turkish, French, Bookkeeping,
Political Economy, Civil Law, Arabic translation and
Poetry, Greek, Bulgarian, Armenian.
Seventh year — Catechism, Geometry, Astronomy, Natural Philosophy
and Mechanics, Mineralogy, Botany, Geology, Hygiene,
General History, Arabic Reading with Grammatical
Rules, Turkish, French, Civil Law, Arabic Translation
and Poetry, Greek, Bulgarian, Armenian.^^
This program was of course for all the provinces of the
Empire, and the languages taught in any particular school
were to depend on the district and the needs. With
regard to the language of instruction, provision was made
for two kinds of preparatory schools — a Turkish I'dadi-
yeh (latterly known as a Sultaniyeh or Lycee) where the
Turkish language was the medium of instruction, and an
Arabic Tdadiyeh (latterly Sultaniyeh) with Arabic as
the language of instruction. These were boarding schools,
12 Cf. Al-Kulliyeh, vol. 4, No. 5.
402 THE MOSLEM WORLD
but there were also preparatory day schools at the capital
of each Mutasarrifiyeh. Next to Turkish and Arabic,
in the Government plan, came French in importance, but
English and German also found a place in some of the
curricula, e. g., at Beirut. Nominally these preparatory
schools (as also the higher primary) were open to all
Ottoman subjects, but practically they were confined to
Moslems, the few non-Moslems who attended being there
in order to qualify for government positions. Fees were
being charged in these schools — for tuition in the case
of day or outside students, and for board and clothing in
addition in the case of boarders or inside students.'^ A
system of ''monitors" was followed in the boarding estab-
lishments, whose duties were to look after the inside
students at their studies and in their dormitories. Punish-
ments took the following forms, according to the gravity
of the offence: (a) Verbal reproof; (b) detention after
school with prescribed tasks; (c) no permission to leave
school on a Friday, i. e., the Moslem Sunday; (d) public
announcement in the school of the offender's name and
the offence ; (e) suspension from school for a period ; (f )
expulsion from school. Oral and written examinations
were held and external examiners helped the teachers in
conducting them. For a fortnight or more before any
such examination teaching was brought to an end and all
the time was devoted to reviewing the work covered. A
passmark of 50 per cent, was necessary for the school cer-
tificate at the end of the course, which entitled one to enter
the Advanced Schools at Constantinople without further
examination. The standard attained in these preparatory
schools — especially in the teaching of the sciences, which
was more or less elementary in all of them — varied greatly
with the locality, and depended on the efficiency of the
teacher. Many received posts as teachers for no other
reason than that they were unemployed and in need of
work of some kind, little account being taken of their
13 Boarders were only found at the Preparatory Schools of the capitals of the Wilayehi.
MOSLEM EDUCATION IN SYRIA 403
educational qualifications, but that state of things was
fortunately passing away, and greater strictness was being
applied to the appointment of teachers. These schools
were confined to boys, girls seldom going beyond the
primary school, as we have seen; in Constantinople, how-
ever, provision for secondary education was made for
girls as well as for boys.
(3) The third grade of government schools we have
called the Advanced Schools ; these included the Imperial
University and the various special or professional schools
at Constantinople. The University, founded in 1901, but
up to 1914 of a more or less nominal character, had
officially six Faculties or Departments, viz : Religious
Science, Literature, Law, Mathematics, Natural Science,
and Medicine, while among the special schools may be
mentioned those of Engineering, Agriculture, Commerce,
Finance, Fine Arts, Administration, as well as those for
Veterinary Science, Military Science, Naval Science, and
the Normal Schools for male and female teachers. In
Syria there was a Medical School at Damascus, which
however was about to be removed to Beirut — the intel-
lectual center of that part of the Empire. There were
also two special schools at Beirut — a Law School and a
Normal School, the latter being meant to meet the needs
of the primary schools in Syria. Damascus had a Normal
School like Beirut. The Lycee at Aleppo had two de-
partments, civil and military, the latter of which is worthy
of mention in this connection. The staffs of the prepara-
tory schools in Syria were recruited from the graduates
of the Normal Training Schools in the capital. The
revenue for educational purposes was obtained by land
taxation, which fell on Moslem and non-Moslem alike;
by the so-called '^wakf," i. e., property originally donated
to mosques by pious men, but now rented to private per-
sons on condition that the land shall revert to the mosques
in case of absence of direct heirs; and also by private
donations, especially, from the Sultan.
404 THE MOSLEM WORLD
Besides these public or government schools, which were
to all intents and purposes Moslem schools, though
theoretically for all Ottoman subjects, there were other
schools which were entirely Moslem in character, viz:
The mosque schools which were under the control of the
'Ulema. Some consideration of the present position of
these schools is necessary. As far as the primary mosque
schools are concerned, what we have said about the gov-
ernment primary schools applies to them, so that we need
add nothing further except that many of them were taken
over by the government, and that those that remain are
still as they were before the days of reform — under the
care of the 'Ulema. It is the Higher Mosque Schools, or
as we might call them, the Theological Schools, that we
have to look at. These are the direct descendants of the
ancient abodes of learning of the Moslems, and to this
day, in spite of attempts at reform, retain most of their
primitive characteristics. Their purpose is to train the
religious leaders of Islam, who form at the same time the
legal guides of the people, for the law of Islam is based
on their sacred book, the Koran. The highest and largest
of these schools are to be found at Constantinople and at
Cairo (the famous Al-Azhar University). In Syria,
Aleppo and Damascus have been the main centers for
theological training, but steps are being taken to focus
attention on Beirut as the future theological center of the
country. The establishment of a Theological School was
being planned there just before the Great War. The
course of such higher study embraces the two departments
of Language and Theology as these have been handed
down from the past. Under Theology comes the study
of the Koran, the Traditions (Hadith), and Jurispru-
dence (Fikh), while Language means the study of Arabic
Grammar, Poetry, and Rhetoric. Persian is also studied,
and a place is given to Logic and Moral Philosophy.
Many have received a general education by attending
one of the government secondary schools before entering
MOSLEM EDUCATION IN SYRIA 405
the mosque school, but within the latter the atmosphere
is that of tradition, leaving no scope for freedom of
thought or investigation. The deadening hand of author-
ity holds sway in philosophical as in theological discus-
sion. While the memory is undoubtedly much exercised,
the understanding is undeveloped. Modern ideas and
methods have no place in the system, for if these were
introduced it could no longer maintain itself. Not all
students however who attend these schools are admitted
to the ranks of the 'Ulema, for a process of ^^elimination"
goes on throughout the whole course. Those students, for
example, w^ho show themselves unfit to pursue satisfac-
torily the more advanced subjects are dropped out and
given positions as teachers of primary schools. Those who
cannot master the intricacies of Arabic grammar, bu;
have received a good training in the Koran and the Tradi-
tions, are likewise dropped and become Imams or Pastors.
These two grades are the lowest, and strictly are not in-
cluded among the ^Ulema, but the next grade, viz: that
of Mudarris or Teacher in a mosque school, is the start-
ing point of the learned class proper. If the Mudarris
continues his studies he may later graduate as a recognized
authority on religion and have the possibility of becoming
a Professor or a Judge. Further study may raise him to
the still higher rank of Chief Judge in one of the five
cities — Damascus, Aleppo, Cairo, Adrianople, or Brussa.
The highest grade of all is that of Sheikh-ul-Islam, whose
seat is at Constantinople, next to the Sultan. Often in the
past he has kept in check the authority of the Sultan, and
even under the recent Turkish constitutional regime his
position as head of the Moslem hierarchy, has been per-
haps the most influential and potent in the Empire. The
system of elimination in these 'Ulema schools has at least
this in its favor that only men of ability are likely to rise
to the highest ranks. Control of those schools was being
sought by the Turkish government, which got a test ex-
amination set up, with the result that many students, who
4o6 THE MOSLEM WORLD
entered simply to escape military service without any
definite intention of studying, were exposed. The students
who enter receive tuition and board gratis, expenses being
met by the Wakf funds and other gifts. Some of the
teachers were salaried by the government. The age of
reform, for those mosque schools, is only beginning, and
progress is likely to be very slow in view of the power of
tradition in all matters that affect directly the faith of
Islam. With the mosque schools and the government
schools we have now before us the Moslem system of edu-
cation as it existed up till these last years in Syria — and
for that part, as it existed throughout the, as yet uncur-
tailed, Turkish Empire.
J. Robertson Buchanan.
CulrosSf Fife shire.
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.
"Worthy Is the Lamb that Was Slain."
The evangelization of the Moslem world requires the consecration
of wealth as well as of life. In this connection the last annual report
of the Algiers Mission Band uses these striking words:
"An old almsplate used to go round at the communion service in
Cromer Church . . . may be it goes round still. It was a little worn
plate, devoid of ornament, but it carried a silent plea so strong that
the impulse always came to empty into it the contents of one's purse.
For, faintly graven on a medallion in the center, there showed a pierced
hand. In no traced out image, but in deepest spirit truth, that hand
of Jesus is stretched out to receive for His Moslem World — for it is
His by right, not the property of the usurper. He created and redeemed
that seventh part of earth's population which spurns His Godhead and
His Cross. He is waiting to see what we can give Him for these lands
where Islam holds sway. . . .
" 'Gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also' — so Islam has its claim
on them in His heart of pity. The gift of light to them that sit in
darkness awaits them — and the gift of the Spirit for the faltering
disciples — and then this gift of leaders to train them and inspire them.
But in His wonderful purpose it is as we put our all into His hands,
that He blesses and breaks and gives, as in that evening by the sea among
the hungry crowd.
"May we let all go to Him as utterly as did the lad with his poor
store that day. 'All' may mean the last ounce of strength — the last
reduction of our balance — the last available hour for prayer; but that
is the kind of giving that we shall long to have laid in those hands of
His when we see them on the other shore. It will be too late then for
earthly possibilities; it is not too late now, glory bo to His name!
And we know not what bit of inadequate offering He may use still,
as He did then, as the fulcrum of His power.
" 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive' — to receive all that
He asks for His Moslem world."
The Effect of the Bolshevist-Kemalist Alliance.
A diplomatic correspondent writing in the Daily Telegraph (London)
rotesting against the delay in dealing with the Turks states that the
.fe of Christians is fast becoming impossible in Cilicia: "According
) the latest reports from Constantinople, the intensification of the Bol-
levist-Kemalist alliance has been followed by an intensification of the
ropaganda pursued by Angora, not only against the local Christian
lements, but against all Western institutions. The battle cry of Turkey
or the Turks had already found expression in the boycott of local
I^hristian and European trade, and in the raising of the duties, in some
ases, to prohibitive heights, on imports from the West. But this
J^hauvinism — largely inspired by Soviet Russia — is now spreading from
he economic domain to the cultural, more especially since the American
exposure of the Kemalist atrocities.
407
4o8 THE MOSLEM WORLD
"Thus, the Angora 'Minister of Public Worship,' in the course of
a recent proclamation to the Turkish youth, anathematized in language
of Oriental flamboyancy the 'Y. M. C. A.' and cognate societies, which
that worthy would appear to regard as either exclusively or preponder-
atingly American in their aims and personnel. He declared that for a
Turk to join or frequent such institutions was tantamount to high
treason, and denounced their 'moral penetration' of Turkey as a grave
menace both to the religious and the national organization of the country.
They tended to undermine its independence, to instil in the minds of the
young a bias in favor of European ideas, and to encourage a scandalous
promiscuity between the sexes, etc. The Kemalist agents in Constanti-
nople succeeded in getting a number of this and other proclamations
issued by Angora posted up in public places at Constantinople, and
widely circulated among the students of the university and colleges. The
Sultan's Government, however, ordered the removal of those exhibited,
lest the relations of the Sublime Porte with the United States — whom
it is deemed advisable to conciliate by every possible means — should be
thereby prejudicially affected. But this and similar incidents, coupled
with the recent closing of so many foreign schools in Anatolia, may be
regarded as a warning of the fate which would await all non-Turkish
and autonomous institutions in Constantinople were the Kemalists to
establish themselves as victors on the European side of the Straits.
"Upon the instructions of the same Kemalist Ministry of Public
Worship, the so-called Patriach of the Turkish National Orthodox
Church, Papa Ephtien, has caused the following prayer to be recited in
every church of this new faith :
"Almighty God, who didst grant Thy grace and kindness to those
who revere Thee, love Thee, and place their hope in Thee, give glory
and health to our great commander Moustapha Kemal Pasha, the Ghazi,
and to all members of the Great National Assembly who in their care
for our well-being and happiness are ready to sacrifice their lives for
us. Give victory to our heroic officers and men. Grant peace and love
to all our administrators and fellow citizens. Protect those who utter
Thy holy name with fear. Confound those who, laying treacherous
hands upon our land, have disturbed our happiness and calm. Protect
those who come to this Church to recite this prayer, for all good things,
all full rewards, can only come through Thee. That is why we are
grateful and submissive to Thee."
Modern Islam and the Penalty of Apostasy.
The Moslems of Woking have widely circulated in the House of
Commons and elsewhere a paper dealing with apostasy in Islam. It
consists of special pleading to show that Islam has always been a religion
of tolerance, and has protected minorities of Christians and Jews. The
argument is specious but not convincing. We quote two paragraphs:
"In the days of the prophet all the reliable records of his life are
silent on the subject. There were many apostasies doubtless, but no
one was punished, for it is, and has ever been, the watchword of Islam,
that there shall be no compulsion in religion" (Ch. 2: 256). We, how-
ever, read of the putting to death of the party of 'Ukl in our traditions,
who, after professing Islam, feigned that the climate of Medina was
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 409
insalubrious, and being told to go to the place where the herds of
camels belonging to the State were grazed, murdered the keepers and
drove the herds along with them. They were charged under the crime
of murder and dacoity, for which the punishment of death has been
provided in Ch. 5 : 33. This episode has generally been cited by the
Quranic commentators under the verse which ordains the death penalty
for murder and dacoity; and there is no other case which can even be
twisted to show that the punishment of death was ever inflicted on
apostasy from Islam.
''Reference may be made to wrong actions on the part of subsequent
followers of Islam who assumed the garb of religion merely to further
their political aims; but this is not peculiar to Muslims. Has not the
modern politician most infelicitously compared the recent fighting in
the neighborhood of Jerusalem with the Crusades, and gone so far as to
hail Salonika as the gate of Christianity? If Christianity is not re-
sponsible for the horrors of the Inquisition, before which the horrors of
hell fade into insignificance, wrongs done by some few Muslim zealots,
if done against the clear teachings of the Qur-an, cannot be put to the
account of Islam. The deliberators of the Paris Conference should bear
in mind that if this supposed death penalty for apostasy in Islam is to
be used as a pretext for tampering with the authority of the Sultan, it
will amount to nothing more nor less than an uncalled for attack on
our decision. We take it as an insult and a slur on our religion, and
the Phil-hellenists should think twice before they allow the question of
apostasy to influence their religion. Let us have no more blunders. We
Muslims do believe in freedom of conscience, and we do denounce the
action of a Muslim Government even under which capital punishment is
meted against apostasy. The book which says, 'All Muslims, Jews, Chris-
tians and Sabians who believe in God and the last day, and do good
works, shall have their reward with their Lord' (Qur-an 11 : 59) — such
cannot allow its followers to look with hatred towards Christians and
Jews, no matter if they be so by birth or are renegades from Islam.
Islam is the proverbial enemy of idolatry, the sworn foe of polytheism
in every form. Yet millions of temples, pagodas, and shrines, conse-
crated to numberless gods, goddesses and demi-gods, teeming with valu-
able golden and marble images and idols, have survived the most
triumphant rule of Islam In India. They still possess the artistic beauty
and sublimity of the ancient workmanship, and excite the wonder of
the modern craftsman. Does not this fact speak highly of that large-
ness of soul which the holy texts have Infused Into the notorious breakers
of Idols? But where are the remains of our art and culture In places
which were taken from us by the Christians of Spain?" — Khwa'ja Kamal-
ud-Din (Imam of the Mosque, Woking).
The Persian Church Sends Out a Missionary
We learn from the C. M. S. paper of subjects for intercession and
thanksgiving that "The long years of patient work in the past are be-
ginning to tell. The stones have been gathered out, the soil prepared,
the seed sown, and the harvest must be reaped In God's time. Native
Church councils have been formed, lay readers set apart for church
work, and now the first Persian Anglican deacon has been ordained to
6
410 THE MOSLEM WORLD
the ministry of the Church in Persia. Large classes of enquirers are
being taught at each of the stations.
The wandering tribespeople of Persia consist of Turcs, Lurs, Kash-
gais, Bakhtiaris, gypsies, and others, who move their camping grounds in
spring and autumn. Many of them are wealthy and powerful. For
several years the chiefs of the large Kashgai and Bakhtiari tribes have
appealed for missionaries. In July last the first missionary farewell
service of the Persian Church was held in Isfahan. The service was
Persian, the missionaries were Persian, and the money for the venture
was Persian. The Persian Church has sent forth this first medical
mission to the Bakhtiari country."
The Cry of Armenia
The National Advocate, in an editorial on the situation in Armenia,
speaks of the disgrace to civilization that this people have not received
help or protection in these terms:
Can history ever wipe out the stain upon the Christian honor if we
refuse to heed Armenia's cry of distress? Shall we allow this Christian
nation to be blotted out? Can it be possible that America will finally
refuse to do her full duty? Shall the richest and most powerful nation
in the w^orld abandon the oldest and most martyred Christian nation to
her fate?
When the President of the United States recommended in 1920 that
this Republic assume a mandate over Armenia, the plea was rejected
by the United States Senate. The leader of the opposition. Senator
Lodge, declared: "The Armenians are a brave and gallant people, and
we must help them; but there are other ways to do it." We are still
waiting to discover which one of these "other ways" will be employed.
Both the Republican and Democratic platforms in the last presidential
campaign promised political help to suffering Armenia. So far nothing
has been done. They were our Allies in the World War — and none
fought more bravely. They are also our allies in religion, and none have
more fully demonstrated their loyalty to Christ at the price of blood.
How can a just God forgive us if we allow the Moslem to destroy them?
The Armenian National Union of America appealed to President
Harding to use his good offices with the French Government to keep its
troops on duty and so foil the plans of the murderous hordes who were
thus indicted by Wilde:
"Christ, dost thou live indeed? or are thy bones
Still straightened in their rock-hewn sepulchre?
And was thy Rising only dreamed by Her
Whose love of thee for all her sin atones?
For here the air is horrid with men's groans,
The priests who call upon thy name are slain,
Dost thou not hear the bitter wail of pain
From those whose children lie upon the stones?
Come down, O Son of God ! incestuous gloom
Curtains the land, and through the starless night
Over thy Cross the Crescent moon I see !
If thou in very truth didst burst the tomb
Come down, O Son of Man ! and show thy might,
Lest Mahomet be crowned instead of Thee!"
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS 411
Inter-Racial Night at Beirut University
Al Kulltyah, the bi-lingual organ of the American University at Bei-
rut, gives an interesting account of how higher education bridges the
chasm of race and religion and produces an atmosphere of tolerance
favorable to the presentation of Christian teaching:
The "Inter-Racial Night" was offered by the Brotherhood in the
West Hall Auditorium on Saturday, December lOth. It consisted of a
series of acts and pageants in each of which a race or nationality pre-
sented some phase of its life. First came a scene in an American frater-
nity house. Students were sitting around in the reception room en-
joying an after-dinner lounge, varied with a little ''rough-housing" and
music.
This was followed by a superb pageant presented by the Armenian
students. The scene was laid in Armenia about 1900 years ago. As
the legend goes, King Abcarus, who had been waging war against Rome
on account of the placing of a statute of the Emp